The Kansas Department of Education announced today two finalists to be the top education guru in the state.
The finalists are Alexa Posny, director of the office of special education in Washington, D.C and Marilou Joyner, executive director of the CEO Blackwell Education Support Team, an educational consultanting firm. She is also a former executive director of the Kansas City Missouri School District Higher Education Partnership and a former assistant education commissioner in Missouri.
Those in Kansas education circles will remember Posny as the former deputy commissioner of education here in Kansas.
The two finalists were narrowed down from five. The names of the other three were not released.
Here's the skinny on the two finalists:
Alexa Posny
- Posny was a finalist during the previous search for commissioner. The board chose Bob Corkins.
- During her leadership, Kansas was viewed as a "national leader in the inclusion of students with disabilities in the statewide accountability system" according to the U.S. Department of Education website.
- Posny started her career as a teacher for students with disabilities. She has been a director of special education in school districts in Kansas, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
- Joyner helped develop guidelines for a statewide district comprehensive improvement plan for Missouri.
- She's had experiences with different types of districts such as those in rural, suburban and urban areas.
- Joyner conducts seminars and training for teachers, administrators and board members
The two candidates will be interviewed again May 7, 2007, at the Kansas State Department of Education. Interviews will begin at 1:00 p.m.
2 comments:
Posny should have been our choice LAST time - she is the best choice this time as well. Hopefully, our state BOE won't screw it up a second time. The Corkins experiment was a disaster that set our state back a few years.
Anon couldn't have said it better! Posny will be there for ALL children. She is a a proven, dedicated leader. She knows Kansas and is not afraid to think and act outside the box. I hope our State BOE will do the right thing for our students and the future of Kansas and chose Posny.
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