NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Gov. Bill Haslam said Thursday that embattled Education Department Commissioner Kevin Huffman is leaving for the private sector following nearly four turbulent years at the helm of the state’s schools.
Huffman’s leadership at the education department has been heavily scrutinized and he has been a lightning rod whose policies and strong advocacy for Common Core standards made him a target for conservatives and teachers’ groups.
In June, a letter signed by 15 Republican lawmakers demanded Huffman’s resignation, citing complaints from school administrators, teachers and students about his leadership style as his department implemented a series of changes in K-12 education.
That letter followed a petition signed by nearly half of the state’s superintendents last year who argued that Huffman had “no interest in a dialogue” with local school leaders as he made policy changes.
One of his proposals sought to tie teacher licensing to standardized test scores. The State Board of Education ultimately voted against the measure, and lawmakers passed a bill during the last legislative session to ban such a policy.
Critics said the proposal was an example of Huffman’s disconnect with teachers.
“The idea that you would threaten to destroy that license and that career based … on test scores, just showed a complete lack of knowledge on the realities of education and what teachers face every day,” Jim Wrye, assistant executive director of the Tennessee Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’, said Thursday
House Democratic leader Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley agreed.
“While the hard work of our teachers has certainly produced some positive results, these outcomes would be much greater without the culture of hostility and mistrust created by the Department of Education,” Fitzhugh said in a statement on Thursday.
Despite the criticism, Haslam repeatedly defended Huffman, and did so once again in Thursday’s news release, citing reforms that he said improved student learning. Haslam said those changes led to results last year from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, that showed Tennessee students leading the nation in academic improvement.
“Improving education in Tennessee has been a top priority for our administration, and having someone of Kevin’s caliber to lead the charge during this time of significant progress has made a difference,” Haslam said.
The announcement comes one day after Haslam announced that Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty is also leaving for the private sector.
The Republican governor didn’t say specifically what either Huffman or Hagerty will be doing.
In an email to The Associated Press, Haslam spokesman David Smith said, “this is a natural time for transition.” He added that the governor “appreciates their service and wishes them well.”
Haslam was re-elected in the general election last Tuesday.