Published: April 18, 2008 03:58 pm            

0 for 2 — 04/19/08

Governor failed to influence choice of top education leaders

Gov. Steve Beshear is 0 for 2 in his efforts to influence the appointment of Kentucky’s two top education officials: The commissioner of education and the president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. It is indicative of just how little this new governor — elected by a landslide last November — has been able to affect policy during his first months in office.

Shortly before his inauguration in December, Governor-elect Beshear asked members of the Kentucky Board of Education to delay the appointment of a new education commissioner in order to conduct another national search to the state’s top education leader. The first search had resulted in the disastrous selection of Barbara Erwin, who resigned before her first day as commissioner after discrepancies in her resume were revealed.

Within days after requesting the state school board to extend its search for a new commissioner, the board named Jon Draud, a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and former superintendent of the Ludlow Independent School District, as the state’s fourth education commissioner. So much for the new governor’s advice.

Just last week, Governor Beshear asked the Council on Postsecondary Education to conduct a national search for a president who will have “an established reputation” in higher education. Less than a week later, the council named Brad Cowgill — the former budget director for former Gov. Ernie Fletcher who had served as interim president since last July — as the permanent successor to former President Tom Layzell.

The governor is so upset with the council’s decision to hire Cowgill that he has asked Attorney General Jack Conway to rule on its legality. Beshear contends the council violated state law by failing to conduct a national search for Layzell’s successor. The governor asked the council to wait until Conway rules on the legality of the hiring before signing a contract with Cowgill.

Cowgill has been serving as interim president after the council said its first national search for Layzell’s successor produced no acceptable applicants. Among those unacceptable applicants was Cowgill.

Created by the Higher Education Reform Act of 1997, the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education is the highest ranking higher education official in the state, drawing a higher salary than the presidents of any of the universities or community and technical colleges. However, as a practical matter, the council has never given the president the authority he needs to do his job. Will it be different under Cowgill? We doubt it.

To be fair, the laws establishing both the commissioner of education and the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education give the governor no direct role in their appointments. In order to remove some of the politics from such appointments, that’s by design. However, as the state’s chief executive, the governor should have at least some influence in naming the state’s top educators.

But not Governor Beshear. Jon Draud is the commissioner of education and Brad Cowgill is president of the Council on Postsecondary Education in spite of Steve Beshear, not because of him.

        

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