Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Ross has announced he plans to retire at the end of this year.
Ross has spent more than 40 years in education and came out of retirement to lead the Ohio Department of Education after being selected by the state board of education in March 2013. Before that, Ross served as a district-level superintendent and an education adviser to Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
A statement posted on the Ohio education department’s website outlined a number of Ross’ accomplishments, including creating a special fund to encourage innovation in schools and expanding early-childhood education.
“Coming out of retirement four years ago to advocate on behalf of the boys and girls in our classrooms has been the most rewarding experience in my career,” Ross said in the statement. “I enjoyed putting to use my 40 years of experience to strengthen education in our state and I am proud of the progress we’ve made in pursuing new reforms that can position our schools for better academic success.”
However, the last few months of Ross’ tenure have been rocky ones. His department came under scrutiny after its director of school choice resigned over a grade-changing scandal. The state soon afterward won a $32 million grant from the federal government to expand charter schools—even though Ohio’s charter sector has been dogged by corruption and poor academic outcomes, and the original grant application was filed by David Hansen, the former school choice director.
Ross will step down on Dec. 31.
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