Jim Kohlmoos, a former education adviser in the Clinton administration who now leads a school-focused nonprofit, has been named the next executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education.
Kohlmoos is currently the president and chief executive officer of the Knowledge Alliance, a Washington nonpartisan group that describes itself as seeking to promote the application of research in school policy.
In his new role, Kohlmoos will be advocating for what will presumably be a very different set of priorities.
State boards’ power varies by state. When new governors and classes of lawmakers take office, it’s not unusual for them to try to assert their power over their states’ boards, recast their membership—or strip them of their influence.
Kohlmoos will take over for NASBE’s current executive director, Brenda Welburn, who is retiring, effective in February.
He served in the U.S. Department of Education from 1993 to 2000 as both a deputy assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education and as a senior adviser and special assistant. Earlier in his career, he worked at the Close Up Foundation, and he served as a teacher-trainer in the Peace Corps.