Who Wants to Be Ohio’s Next State Superintendent?
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The applicants for Ohio’s top K-12 education post include several former state schools chiefs as well as the former president of a national school-choice organization and the lead consultant on the takeover of the Detroit public schools
Ohio’s last state superintendent of public instruction resigned in August after the state inspector general found he had committed ethics violations. The board hired Iowa-based search firm Ray and Associates to conduct a national search for a replacement.
Gov. John Kasich’s education advisor Dick Ross, former superintendent of the Reynoldsburg school district, has applied for the job. So has Michael Sawyers, who is currently serving as acting state superintendent.
Other applicants include Charles Hokanson Jr. (Former president of the Alliance for School Choice), Thomas Jandris (Concordia University dean and lead consultant on the takeover of Detroit schools), Jorea Marple (former West Virginia state schools chief) and Michael Sentance (former Massachusetts state schools chief).
Several of the candidates for Ohio’s post also applied to searches Ray and Associates conducted for other state superintendent jobs, including the search for Florida’s new education commissioner.
Five of the 30 candidates are women.
(See the full list of applicants below.)
The state superintendent is hired by the state Board of Education. Board members aligned with Gov. Kasich hold a majority on the board. The Columbus Dispatch is already calling Ross, Kasich’s education advisor, a shoo-in for the job.
The state board’s executive committee will meet Monday to select finalists to interview and plans to hold a first round of interviews the following week.
Applicants for Ohio State Superintendent Post
| Name | Location | Current Position |
| Benita Ashford | Mesquite, TX | Dallas middle school principal |
| Spurgeon Banyard | Clinton, MS | Louisiana middle school principal |
| Walter Calinger | Norton, OH | Pittsburgh-area superintendent |
| Denise Callihan | Lancaster, OH | Former Lancaster, Ohio superintendent |
| Michael Cerkovnik | Davidson, NC | Former head of North Carolina private religious school |
| Letitia Cox | Edison, NJ | |
| Merry Cox | St. Louis, MO | South Carolina middle school principal |
| C. Fredrick Crum | Malvern, OH | |
| Luis Gonzalez | Harrisburg, PA | Former central Pennsylvannia superintendent |
| John Grahovac Sr. | Poland, OH | Former Mosaica charter school management company administrator |
| Charles Hokanson Jr. | Arlington, VA | Former president of Alliance for School Choice |
| Kimberly Hyde | Chesterfield, MI | |
| Kimberly Ingram | Syracuse, NY | Syracuse University assistant dean, former IT executive who managed IT projects for the Detroit schools |
| Thomas Jandris | Chicago, IL | Concordia University Dean, Lead consultant on state takeover of Detroit public schools, helped draft school reform legislation for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former director of state services for the Education Commission of the States |
| Joseph Lopez | El Paso, TX | Associate superintendent for El Paso school district |
| Brenda Lyons | Detroit, MI | Detroit elementary school principal |
| Jorea Marple | Charleston, WV | Former West Virginia state schools chief |
| Edwin Martinez Del Rio | Chesapeake, VA | Associate Campus Dean, Strayer University |
| Shannon Mayfield | Allentown, PA | Eastern Pennsylvannia high school principal |
| Gerry Morgan | Bangkok, N/A | Principal of the British Columbia International School in Bangkok |
| Darla Posney | Tarentum, PA | Administrator at Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School |
| Richard Ross | Columbus, OH | Kasich education advisor, leads Governor’s Office of 21st Century Education |
| Richard Ryder | Mechanicsville, VA | |
| Indira Sakamuri | Auckland, New Zealand | Teacher |
| Michael Sawyers | Perry, OH | Current acting superintendent of public instruction |
| Michael Sentance | Concord, MA | Former Massachusetts state schools chief |
| Melanie Spears | Richmond, CA | Consultant with Cambridge Education |
| Arthur Stellar | Hingham, MA | Self-employed consultant/writer |
| Shawn Thorpe | Falls Church, VA | Principal at Alexandria Public Schools |
| Micheal Wood | Roseville, CA |
