After seeing his agency subjected to months of criticism from the governor’s office, Robert E. Schiller has officially resigned as Illinois’ state schools superintendent after serving two years in that post.
Mr. Schiller submitted a letter of resignation to the state board of education, the agency he led, on Sept. 24. It will take effect Oct. 1. Mr. Schiller, whose three-year contract was to run through next October, will receive a $157,000 severance package from the state, said Becky Watts, a spokeswoman for the board.
The state’s nine-member board of education had already named Randy J. Dunn, a professor at the University of Illinois at Carbondale, superintendent on an interim basis, before Mr. Schiller’s resignation. (“Illinois Chief Appears Set To Leave Amid Shake-up,” Sept. 29, 2004.)
Board members do not have a timetable for hiring a permanent superintendent, but Mr. Dunn, who will be paid $115,000 a year on a prorated basis, is not interested in taking that position, Ms. Watts said.
