Kentucky School Advocate
September 2023
By Brenna R. Kelly
Staff writer
Education Commissioner Jason Glass plans to leave his position at the end of September setting in motion the search for a new commissioner – the state’s fourth new chief state schools officer in just six years.
Glass, who announced his departure on July 31, will become associate vice president of teaching and learning at Western Michigan University. He became a target of the Republican-led legislature over the past year and had about a year remaining on his four-year contract.
“These past three years have been a remarkable journey and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to return to my home state and serve as commissioner,” he said. “I wish to thank the members of the Kentucky Board of Education for their wisdom and leadership, the staff at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) for their exemplary service and those working in education roles across the state for their continuing efforts to serve and support all of Kentucky’s children. I have a heart full of gratitude.”
Were he to seek another contract, Glass would have faced confirmation by the Senate thanks to a new law the General Assembly passed earlier this year requiring Senate confirmation of the state’s education commissioner.
Over the past year, Republican legislators have taken issue with Glass accusing him of having a “woke agenda” and over KDE guidance that encouraged teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns.
During the 2023 session, Republican lawmakers in both chambers filed bills calling for the Kentucky Board of Education to fire Glass. After the session, Glass was a finalist to lead the Baltimore County public school system.
At a news conference after his announcement, Glass said that in addition to the new law that requires Senate confirmation to renew his contract, that the passage of Senate Bill 150 was a factor in his decision to leave the state.
“Of course, my decision to leave was influenced by the political situation that we find ourselves in in Kentucky, but also in many other places across the nation,” Glass said, according to WFPL-Radio. “I do not wish to be part of implementing the dangerous and unconstitutional anti-LGBTQ law that the legislature passed this last session. So, it is time for me to move on.”
Glass said he could not “in good conscience” implement the bill which requires students to use the bathroom corresponding to their sex at birth and prevents districts from disciplining teachers for refusing to call students by their preferred pronouns.
The morning Glass announced his resignation, Republican gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Daniel Cameron tweeted: “One down, one to go.”
Gov. Andy Beshear, in a statement, thanked Glass for his service.
“I will call on the Kentucky Board of Education to conduct a national search to find the right person to fill this important role and continue to move our education system forward for children across the Commonwealth.”
Then-KBE chair Lu Young said Glass will leave a positive and lasting impact on public education in Kentucky.
“The Kentucky Board of Education selected Dr. Glass to be our commissioner at a very turbulent time in the world,” she said. “He led deftly through the challenges of the pandemic and two major natural disasters while, at the same time, galvanizing support across schools and communities around a bold new vision for learning and teaching in the Commonwealth.”
Young credited Glass with the state’s new Portrait of Learner profile which articulates a set of high expectations for every learner regarding the knowledge, skills and mindsets they need to be successful.
During his final KBE meeting, Glass thanked the board.
“It was a lifelong dream of mine to have this professional honor in my home state,” Glass said. “I will always treasure that experience. I have loved getting to know and work with the members of this board.”
Glass previously served as superintendent of Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado for three years and was superintendent of Eagle County Schools in Colorado from 2013 to 2017. He also was an administrator at the Colorado Department of Education and was Iowa’s chief state school officer from 2010 to 2013. He began his career as a social studies teacher at Hazard Independent Schools.
Search process begins
The Kentucky Department of Education, at the direction of the Kentucky Board of Education, has issued a request for proposals for a firm to conduct a national search for the state’s next education commissioner.
KDE is seeking a firm to identify candidates that meet the board’s criteria, which will be decided at a later time. The goal is for the search firm to begin its work no later than Dec. 1, said KDE Associate Commissioner Robin Kinney.
“I think we can get it done sooner than that, but just to manage expectations that if all the stars do not align … then we’ve got a little bit of wiggle room there,” she said.
In 2020, when the board hired Commissioner Jason Glass it used Florida-based Greenwood/Asher & Associates, Inc.
To evaluate the proposals the board created a committee, which includes KBE members Alissa Riley, Steve Trimble and Julie Pile.