Board installs Key at state's education chief

The Arkansas Board of Education made Gov. Asa Hutchinson's selection for Arkansas education commissioner official Wednesday by voting unanimously to employ former Sen. Johnny Key for the job.

Today is Key's first official day of work overseeing the state's 237 school districts and 18 charter school systems for more than 460,000 public school students. Additionally, he will serve as the school board in three state-controlled school districts: Little Rock, Pulaski County Special and Helena-West Helena.

The new commissioner replaces Tony Wood, the former deputy commissioner of four years. Wood became commissioner in July after the resignation of Tom Kimbrell.

Education commissioner is one of the highest-paid state jobs, with the exception of medical and university positions. In his less than one year in the position, Wood was paid what would be an annual salary of $231,176. Key's salary was not immediately available from the Education Department on Wednesday.

Key, 46, a Gurdon native and a former chairman of the Arkansas Senate Education Committee, on Wednesday thanked the Education Board and Hutchinson for their confidence in him.

"I want to voice to you all, to the governor and to the people of Arkansas, my commitment in leading this department and working with the team we have in place, working with our communities, working with the stakeholders, the teachers, the parents, our administrators in moving Arkansas forward," he said.

"As I said a couple of weeks ago ... I would like to see us move from the discussion of adequacy where we have been since the post-Lake View [school-funding lawsuit] era to one where we start talking about excellence and moving our state along the path where we identify the excellence that already exists. It exists in Little Rock. It exists in the Delta. It exists in south Arkansas and in north Arkansas."

Key said his work will include pointing out where that excellence is occurring and building on it elsewhere in the state so that every Arkansas child is provided the best possible education.

"Our state is poised for great growth," he said.

Hutchinson recommended Key, who has a 1991 bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and most recently served as associate vice president for university relations for the University of Arkansas system, for the commissioner's job March 2. When he served in the state Senate, he was a Republican from Mountain Home. He now lives in Little Rock.

The state Education Board has the authority to hire the commissioner, who is then confirmed by and serves at the pleasure of the governor.

At the time of his recommendation, Key -- who does not have a state teaching license -- did not meet the legal qualifications for the commissioner's job. But Hutchinson last week signed into law Act 525 -- formerly Senate Bill 681 -- that removed provisions from existing law that would disqualify Key from holding the post.

Now, instead of requiring the commissioner to hold a master's degree and 10 years of teaching experience, including five years of administrative experience, the new law sponsored by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, requires that either the commissioner or the deputy education commissioner meet those requirements.

Deputy Education Commissioner Mike Hernandez, a former school district superintendent, has two master's degrees and will be awarded a doctorate in May from Harding University.

Education Board member Alice Mahony of El Dorado made the motion to hire Key. Board member Toyce Newton of Crossett seconded the motion. The vote was followed by applause from the audience made up of Arkansas Department of Education top-level staff members, Key's wife, Shannon, their family members and other observers.

The Education Board's vote followed a two-hour executive session closed to the public.

Neither Key nor Education Board Chairman Sam Ledbetter, a former Little Rock legislator, would elaborate after the meeting about the substance of the lengthy private meeting.

"We had a good conversation," Key said. "I'll leave it at that."

Ledbetter -- who along with the other eight members of the Education Board were appointed by former Gov. Mike Beebe -- was complimentary of Key.

"I think there will be a great working relationship," Ledbetter said of Key and the board. "Johnny Key has a great reputation. I've known him for 12 years. I met him when he came into the House of Representatives in 2003. I've respected Johnny the entire time I've known him. He has incredible integrity. He is a person who looks for solutions. He is not doctrinaire. He is someone who listens carefully to all sides, makes thoughtful decisions and tries to find solutions that are best for all Arkansas."

The fact that Key does not hold a state teaching license, which is required for teachers and district administrators in public schools, adds a challenge but also can be an advantage, Ledbetter said.

"In many businesses and professions you bring in people with different backgrounds who also have certain skills," he said. "That's what we have in this instance. His background with his knowledge of the Lake View [school-funding lawsuit] gives him a unique perspective and insight. His not being a traditional administrator and his not being in the classroom will require him to rely on the expertise of others in certain areas, but that's what good administrators do."

Asked how he might reach out to the state's more traditionally prepared educators with whom he will now work, Key pointed to his work in the Legislature.

"I'd like to think that my past work on the Education Committee in the Senate has established a bond," Key said. "I have worked very well with the groups and the individuals who make up the groups. In my view, it's building on that relationship we already have."

One of the issues at the forefront for Key and the Education Department is the formation of plans for the Little Rock School District. A divided state board voted Jan. 28 to assume control of the district. The state board dismissed the seven-member elected Little Rock School Board and made Superintendent Dexter Suggs an interim superintendent under the supervision of the commissioner.

The takeover was based largely on six schools in the 48-school district that are classified by the state as academically distressed because fewer than half of the students scored at proficient on state math and literacy exams over a three-year period, 2011-13 and again in 2012-14.

Key said Wednesday that he planned to talk to Suggs later Wednesday to tell him he was looking forward to working with him and begin identifying next steps. Those will include conferring with Baker Kurrus, appointed by Wood to lead a committee to study the district's budget and make recommendations for adjusting for the discontinuation of $37 million a year in state desegregation aid. That aid will stop after the 2017-18 school year.

"Until we have a firm grasp of the fiscal condition of the district, it would be very difficult to set a plan on the academic side," Key said.

Jim Ross, one of the displaced Little Rock School Board members and a plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking to reinstate the elected board, attended the state meeting Wednesday. He's been critical of the state for offering a clear plan for raising achievement in the six academically distressed schools.

"It's day 56 with no plan," Ross said after the meeting. "Maybe on day 57 they'll start talking."

Metro on 03/26/2015

Upcoming Events