New State Board of Education Appointee Stanley Jackson Played for Ohio State But Never Graduated

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Stanley Jackson played football for Ohio State University before going on to play on Canadian football teams.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has appointed a television sports commentator and former Canadian league football player to the state Board of Education.

Stanley Jackson, a Republican from Marion, attended Ohio State University and played football there, but does not appear to have graduated, Ohio State spokesperson Amy Murray said.

Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols said he was “sure our people” were aware that Jackson had not graduated from Ohio State and said he did not know if Jackson had graduated from another college.

Jackson, a Republican from Marion, will serve out the remaining six months of former board member Dennis Reardon’s term, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Reardon, an appointee of former Gov. Ted Strickland, resigned earlier this month.

The state Board of Education has 19 members: Eleven members elected from specific districts and eight at-large members appointed by the governor. With Jackson’s appointment, seven of the eight appointed members were appointed by Gov. Kasich.

The state Board of Education votes on issues including discipline for misbehaving teachers, charter school sponsorship, territory transfers among school districts, rules that govern various aspects of school operations and appointing the head of the Ohio Department of Education.

Among the issues facing the state Board of Education are how a new, national curriculum and new, state-developed curricula will be used in Ohio schools, how to develop new models for evaluating teachers and principals, and, under the first years of the new third grade reading guarantee, how high third graders must score on state reading tests to advance to fourth grade.

Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols said Jackson is currently a candidate for an elected seat on the State Board of Education. Nichols said Jackson’s candidacy was what brought him to the attention of the governor’s office.

However, Jackson has not actually filed to run for state Board of Education, according to the Allen County Board of Elections. The deadline to file is Aug. 8.

A brief bio of Jackson from an April 2012 fundraiser he did for a Columbus-area school district says:

Mr. Jackson does color commentary on 610 WTVN for the best Buckeye coverage [sic] and has just started a new show called Jacksonville Sunday Nights from 7 – 9 p.m.  Stanley Jackson is the founder of Masters Preparatory Academy Charter School a singer [sic] gender school for African American males, and Integrated American Media (IAM) television network which provides Christian conservative viewpoints for minority communities.

Columbus Business First reports that Jackson has worked in marketing at a Columbus television station. He grew up in Paterson, New Jersey.

“In meeting with him, we recognized that he shares the governor’s views,” Nichols said.

Kasich considered “a number” of people for this state Board of Education appointment, Nichols said. Jackson met with members of the governor’s staff including lead education policy advisor Dick Ross and with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner, but the governor’s office does not currently have a copy of Jackson’s resume, Nichols said.

Nichols said there’s no requirement that state board appointees provide resumes and there’s no requirement that they have college degrees.

However, it is common for governors to request resumes of potential appointees and most current state board members do have college degrees.

Of the seven current state board members appointed prior to Jackson, two have professional experience in education: Ohio private college lobbyist and former U.S. Department of Education official C. Todd Jones and retired superintendent A. Dennis Shelton. Most appointed members have served on local school boards. Here’s the complete list:

• Corporate attorney Angela Thi Bennett (term expires Dec. 31, 2012, Kasich appointee)
• Private college lobbyist C. Todd Jones (term expires Dec. 31, 2012, Kasich appointee)
• Retired postmaster Dannie Greene (term expires Dec. 31, 2012, Strickland appointee)
• Airline executive Joseph Farmer (term expires Dec. 31, 2014, Kasich appointee)
• Construction/property management company executive Tom Gunlock (term expires Dec. 31, 2014, Kasich appointee)
• Retired superintendent A. Dennis Shelton (term expires Dec. 31, 2014, Kasich appointee)
• Stay-at-home mother Tess Elshoff (term expires Dec. 31, 2014, Kasich appointee)

We haven’t yet been able to get in touch with Jackson. A woman who answered the phone at a listed number for Jackson said today that it’s no longer his number.