School & District Management

Schools Advocate Gets Security Job

By Michele McNeil — December 08, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat who is an ardent advocate for education—and its link to the broader economy and jobs—is headed to a Cabinet post as secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The move takes Gov. Napolitano, an early supporter of President-elect Barack Obama and a top contender for several Cabinet jobs, out of the running for secretary of education. That was still a post waiting for its nominee as of last week.

Ms. Napolitano’s selection, announced Dec. 1, will leave Arizona firmly in the GOP’s hands, because the state’s Republican secretary of state, Jan Brewer, is next in line for the governor’s office. Republicans control the legislature.

During her six years in office, Gov. Napolitano, 51, has been best known on the education front for successfully implementing free, full-day kindergarten for all children.

“That was huge, and it was very, very politically difficult,” said Janice Palmer, the director of governmental relations for the Arizona School Boards Association.

First elected in 2002, the governor also wielded her veto pen several times to protect education funding, actions that also didn’t go unnoticed by education advocates.

She championed literacy, and from her first year in office raised public money to give free books to the state’s 1st and 4th graders.

One of Gov. Napolitano’s last tasks will be delivering a balanced-budget proposal for fiscal 2010. Arizona’s deficit for fiscal year 2010 is already more than $2 billion, out of a $9.9 billion budget.

The governor acknowledged leaving office in “difficult times,” according to the statement her office put out on her new job.

Ms. Napolitano made innovation in education a cornerstone of her tenure as the chairwoman of the National Governors Association in 2006-07. She was helping to marshal the governors behind an effort to benchmark academic standards to international ones, and was announced as a co-chair of an advisory group on the issue in September. An NGA spokesman said last week that she’ll stay on board with that project until her move to Washington becomes official.

A version of this article appeared in the December 10, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Q&A There's a Good Chance Your Superintendent Has One of These 15 Names
A researcher's findings highlight just how white and male the American superintendency is.
5 min read
Image of male and female professional silhouettes, with a central male figure punched out in color.
melitas/iStock/Getty + Edweek
School & District Management After a Lesson on Michelangelo's David, a Florida Principal Loses Her Job
Parents complained that images of the famous sculpture were "pornographic" and that they weren't notified of the lesson in advance.
Michelangelo's marble statue of "David", is seen in Florence's Galleria dell' Accademia on May 24, 2004.
Michelangelo's marble statue of "David" is displayed in the Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence, Italy.
Fabrizio Giovannozzi/AP
School & District Management A New Federal Plan Could Make Free School Meals a Reality for More Students
The plan will mostly benefit districts in states where lawmakers have enacted universal free school meal policies.
5 min read
Young boy in a school lunchroom cafeteria line and choosing a slice of pizza to put on his tray which includes an apple.
SDI Productions/Getty
School & District Management Did Principal Turnover Increase During the Pandemic? Here's What We Know
The data are still scant, but what’s emerging shows a drop in 2020-21 and an increase the following year.
6 min read
Black and white male and female figures walking in different directions on a light blue textured background. One male figure is walking out of an open door.
Anton Vierietin/Getty