Mike Hanley, the commissioner of education in Alaska, will step down as of March 1.
He offered his resignation this month after it became clear that the state board wanted a change in leadership. He has served as state schools chief for five years.
Philip Lanoue, who last year was named the national superintendent of the year by AASA, the School Superintendents Association, is expected to become the superintendent in Fulton County. Ga.
Currently the superintendent in the Clarke County district in Athens, Ga., Lanoue is the lone finalist for the 94,000-student Fulton County job and would start his new job in July.
Jack Smith has been conditionally hired as the new superintendent of the Montgomery County, Md., district, one of the nation’s 15 largest.
At present, he is the interim state schools superintendent in Maryland. He is set to start his new job in July.
Robert L. Hughes has been named the director of K-12 strategy for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Since 2000, he has served as president of New Visions for Public Schools, a nonprofit that serves as an incubator for new district and charter schools. It currently supports 70 schools in New York City. Hughes succeeds Vicki L. Phillips, who has been in the position since 2007.