Florida State Board Interviews Candidates

The Florida State Board of Education will interview the seven semi-finalists for the position of state Commissioner of Education. The Palm Beach Post describes the candidates thusly:

 

• Four out-of-state administrators: William Harner, Joseph Marinelli, William Moloney and Eric Smith.

 

• Earl Lennard, former schools superintendent of Hillsborough County.

 

• Jim Warford, the former Florida K-12 public schools chancellor whom Bush's office fired for disagreeing with the high school portion of Bush's school grading system.

 

• Cheri Yecke, the current K-12 chancellor, whom Bush's office recruited to replace Warford.

 

The Post story, though, is most interesting for the peek behind former Governor Jeb Bush’s relationship with the Commissioner and State Board and his concern for protecting his “legacy issues.”