Brad Bryant was formally sworn in as state school superintendent Thursday morning by Gov. Sonny Perdue, where he will serve the final six months of Kathy Cox’s term as the state’s top education official.
Cox resigned as superintendent effective Wednesday to work for an education consulting organization in Washington, D.C.
“It’s an honor to be asked to serve as state school superintendent,†said Bryant, a DeKalb County attorney. “As a parent who had children in public schools and whose wife continues to work in one, I know the challenges we face and how important a quality education is to our state’s future.â€
Bryant has said he will try to qualify as an independent candidate to run in the general election for a full four-year term as superintendent. He had not filed the papers declaring his candidacy as of 12 noon Thursday, however.
Bryant was a member of the state Board of Education for more than seven years and served 12 years before that on the DeKalb County school board.
Cox did not announce her resignation until May 17, after qualifying had closed for this year’s elections. Because she withdrew from the race so late, her name is still on the July 20 Republican primary ballot, although votes for her will not count.
Her late resignation put Perdue in a situation where the governor could have, if he chose, appointed one of the persons who had already qualified to run for superintendent as the interim replacement for Cox.
Both of the Republican candidates – John Barge and Richard Woods – oppose the state’s application for “Race to the Top†federal funding for public schools, which is something that Perdue supports.
Perdue also has severe political differences with the Democratic frontrunner for superintendent, Joe Martin.
Martin, a former chairman of the Atlanta school board, heads a consortium of school systems that sued Perdue and Cox over allegations that the state was not meeting its constitutional requirement to provide funding for an “adequate†public education for children. The suit was later withdrawn.
© 2010 by The Georgia Report |
