The Aug. 11 decision by the Alabama Board of Education to hire a non-educator from Massachusetts to head the Alabama Department of Education was a hard slap in the face to every educator and concerned public school parent in the state.  You bypassed four very qualified in-state applicants to hire someone who has zero administrative experience to look out for 136 school systems and 740,000 students.

Someone who applied for the same job in 2011 and did not get an interview.  Someone who has been rejected by at least six other states for their chief education position. 

This decision is indefensible.

The only solution is to rescind it.  This should be done ASAP and you should hire someone who has a proven record of understanding education in Alabama and who will have the trust and respect of our hard-working educators and others who value education.