By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Outgoing state Education Commission Ken James is headed to the private sector.
James begins work July 6 as executive vice president and chief operating officer of America’s Choice, a Washington-based for-profit educational organization that helps public schools improve their academic performance.
James, 58, announced his resignation last month, effective Tuesday, after five years as head of the Arkansas Department of Education. He previously served as school superintendent in his hometown of Batesville and in Little Rock and Van Buren.
“I’ll be in charge of the day-to-day operation of the company and overseeing pretty much all facets of the company’s operations, from supervising all the field service staff that are located throughout the country as well as all the sales and marketing staff, human resources staff and those kinds of things. It’s in essence the No. 2 position in the company,” he said Monday in an interview with the Arkansas News Bureau.
James said he will be based in Little Rock, though the job will involve flying around the country. He said he was pleased to be able to continue working in education.
“After 36 years on the public side, this will give me an opportunity to see it from the private lens and to look at it from a different angle,” he said.
America’s Choice provides professional development, technical assistance and teaching materials to help turn around schools that are having difficulty meeting standards. Since the 2006-07 school year the company has had a contract with Arkansas to help turn around 36 schools that have been classified as needing improvement.
The cost of the contract was $6 million in the first year and has grown to $6.2 million for the 2009-10 school year, according to Education Department spokeswoman Julie Thompson. The money comes from Arkansas’ share of Title I federal funding earmarked for raising students’ achievement levels and closing achievement gaps, she said.
Judy Codding, president of America’s Choice, said she was thrilled that James accepted the position.
“Ken and I have known each other for 20 years, and I have always considered him a leader and a gift to education,” she said.
Gov. Mike Beebe said Monday that James served the state well during Beebe’s administration and that of Gov. Mike Huckabee, who first appointed James as education commissioner in 2004.
“He’s positioned our state, with some of his initiatives and some of his leadership, in a good posture. I hate to see him go anywhere, but I’m glad he’s staying in education,” Beebe said.
Beebe said he has not chosen a replacement for James and is in no hurry to do so.
“We’re taking our time on that. The reason for that is it’s such an important position, and we want to get it right,” he said.
Starting Wednesday, Diana Julian will serve as interim education commissioner. Julian has served as deputy education commissioner since 2007 and previously served as assistant commissioner for the Education Department’s Division of Learning Services.
