Kentucky’s New Education Commissioner Will Make Another Appointment

It looks like the new commissioner of education, whoever that might be, will have a chance to fill a key position at the Kentucky Department of Education right away.

Elaine Farris, the department’s deputy commissioner for learning results and current acting interim education commissioner, has announced she is leaving to become the superintendent of the Clark County Public Schools.

Farris’ departure leaves another key leadership hole at the department during the critical start-up period on the process to create a new state assessment.

On the positive side, the search for a new education commissioner now adds a sweetener – the person selected can immediately hire someone he or she wants as a key assistant.

We wish commissioner Farris well. It looks like she will face some challenges. Clark County’s middle and high schools score below the state average on the EXPLORE and PLAN tests although the high school’s ACT score for all 11th graders was above the state average.