FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky’s embattled education commissioner resigned Thursday, handing new Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear what he wanted in reshaping the management in the education system to reflect his opposition to charter schools.
The state’s newly reorganized state school board accepted Wayne Lewis’ immediate resignation at a special meeting.
Beshear set Lewis’ removal in motion Tuesday when he disbanded the Kentucky Board of Education and then recreated it with 11 new members on his first day in office, fulfilling a campaign pledge. During his run for governor, Beshear said he hoped the reorganization would lead to Lewis’ removal.
The new board’s chairman, David Karem, called it an “amicable resolution” to Lewis’ status, and said his departure was consistent with the goals of the the state’s 30-year-old education reform law.
”We want to send a message that we’re going to have a national search,” Karem told reporters afterward. “That has been in keeping with the creation of the Kentucky education reform.”
Later in the day, Beshear thanked Lewis for his service to the state and said the new board “took a positive step toward supporting public education.” The governor said he has faith in the new board’s ability to find a new permanent commissioner with an ability to innovate and with a track record of improving public schools and supporting educators.
The new board selected Kevin Brown, general counsel for Jefferson County Public Schools, to serve as interim commissioner during the search for a permanent successor to Lewis.
Under terms of his negotiated resignation, Lewis will receive 120 days salary and health benefits.
The new education board had signaled that Lewis’ job was on the line. Thursday’s agenda included “discussion and possible action” to terminate Lewis’contract.
The prior board’s members, all appointed by now-former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, hired Lewis as the state’s permanent education commissioner in October 2018. Lewis is a staunch supporter of charter schools, as is Bevin.
But Beshear opposes charter schools, saying they would drain money from traditional public schools. He had expressed concerns about the previous board’s support for charter schools.
Beshear, who won election with strong backing from teachers, has vowed to make public education a top priority. He will push for a $2,000 across-the-board pay raise for public school teachers in the state budget he submits to lawmakers in early 2020. He also wants to shrink class sizes.
During Bevin’s term, the GOP-dominated legislature enacted a law to allow charter schools, which get public funding but operate outside of state standards. Advocates say charter schools give parents more options for students who struggle in a traditional public school.
Lewis’ tenure as education commissioner was turbulent.
Earlier this year, he asked several school districts to turn over the names of teachers who used sick days to protest at the state Capitol. So many teachers called in that the districts had to close because officials couldn’t find enough substitutes to cover classes.
The protests were part of a wave of teacher activism across the country that began last year in West Virginia and spread quickly to other states.
Lewis also stirred controversy when he called for a state takeover of Kentucky’s largest school district shortly after becoming interim education commissioner.
Instead of a full-blown takeover, the Jefferson County school district has been under a corrective action plan. Under the agreement, the district that covers Louisville has two years to make significant progress on a multitude of goals before another state audit of the system next year.
The new board’s chairman said during the meeting that the new governor had assembled a board whose members are “deeply committed” to public education.
“I feel that what Gov. Beshear has done as far as reforming the Kentucky Board of Education is 100 % in keeping with the mission of Kentucky education reform,”said Karem, a former longtime state lawmaker.
Karem said the next commissioner will be picked by the education board, not Beshear.
“The decision will be made by the 11 members of this board,” he said.
One member of the ousted board, Gary Houchens, attended the meeting. He later told reporters that the new board “was not legitimately appointed.”
Kentucky law, he said, protects state board of education members from removal before their terms end when there is no just cause for their dismissal. Ten former board members have sued to block their removal, but state judges refused to temporarily block the new governor’s executive order.
Houchens said any suggestions that Lewis and the dismissed board members aren’t committed to public education would be insulting.
Beshear’s deputy general counsel, Travis Mayo, said during a court hearing Wednesday that the governor acted within his authority when he restructured the board.
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