Wide variety of applicants vie to become Iowa education director

A small-town high school principal, a state official who helped design the new career ladders for Iowa teachers and a man who in May was appointed to a top post in the National Education Foundation are three of 26 applicants for Iowa's top education post.

“We hope to have a shortlist soon of who can come in for interviews with the governor and lieutenant governor,” said Tim Albrecht, spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad. “We hope to have someone in place by the start of the school year, mid-to-late August.”

The Branstad administration released the list of 26 after 5 p.m. Monday in response to an Open Records request filed last month by The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau. The administration provided the names of applicants and copies of their cover letters with certain personal and contact information redacted.

Among the applicants is Ryan Wise, the director of strategic initiatives for the Iowa Department of Education. Wise came to the state from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to facilitate the work group that ultimately came up with the new teacher pay and career ladder proposal, which was incorporated into this year's education reform bill.

After that work group made its report, Wise was kept on in a new position.

“As a key member of the team that designed Governor Branstad's successful education reform legislation, I am fully invested in the Governor's vision of ensuring all children in Iowa receive a world class education,” Wise wrote in his cover letter.

Another applicant is Todd A. Thompson, the principal for the middle and high schools in the 339-student Clarksville School District. Thompson also serves as the schools' junior high school girls basketball coach and high school cross country coach. He did not include a cover letter with his application.

Arthur Stellar submitted a nine-page cover letter with his application. Stellar is a vice president at the National Education Foundation in Washington, where he helps school districts obtain federal dollars through government programs. According to a news release through the PRWEB service, Stellar was named to the position in May.

He ended his cover letter with a postscript.

“PS. You have my guarantee that student achievement will rise significantly, academic gaps will shrink, state educational finances will become sustainable and the public will recognize that Iowa students are advancing to become the best in the United States,” he wrote.

Whoever is selected will be charged with implementing an education reform law that took two years to work its way through the Legislature and made sweeping changes to how teachers are paid and promoted and how students are evaluated.

Former Department of Education director Jason Glass, whom Branstad brought to Iowa to help create legislation in 2011, left in June to become the superintendent at a school district in Colorado.

Albrecht said there was “no set number” on how many applicants would be on the shortlist.

“I think the significant response we received shows the education reform we put in place generated a lot of excitement nationwide,” Albrecht said.

The applicants:

• Brad Buck, superintendent, Saydel School District, Saydel, Iowa
• Robert Burroughs, educational consultant, Iowa Department of Education, Des Moines, Iowa
• Erika Cook, associate principal, Valley High School, West Des Moines, Iowa
• Tamara Cooper, senior project manager, Pearson Education, Washington, D.C.
• Dale Crozier, superintendent, MFL MarMac School District, Monona, Iowa
• Tyler Dern, senior account manager, Marsh and McLennan Companies, Urbandale, Iowa
• Ann Hammer, division chair of education and applied arts, Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Mo.
• Shaun Johnson, assistant professor of elementary education, Towson University, Towson, Md.
• David E. Johnson, former school administrator/U.S. Air Force Reserve commissioned officer, address not provided
• Anthony Limoges, principal, South San Francisco High School, San Francisco, Calif.
• Kandiest Martin-Brock, principal, Howell Park Elementary School, Baton Rouge, La.
• Lawrence Paska, coordinator of technology policy, New York State Education Department, Albany, N.Y.
• David Rogers, superintendent, Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico school district, Prophetstown, Ill.
• David A. Ruhman, former director of career and technical education, Herndon Career Center, Raytown school district, Raytown, Mo.
• Anthony Senci, project manager, C&L Companies, Inc., Urbandale, Iowa
• John S. Soper, assistant principal, Greene Intermediate Center, South Bend Community School Corporation, South Bend, Ind.
• Wendi M. Sparks, employed at Huntington Learning Center, Ankeny, Iowa
• Arthur Stellar, vice president at the National Education Foundation, Washington, DC
• Matthew Stiehm, consultant, Stiehm Solutions Consulting, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Joelle Stolte, laboratory supervisor/lead program manager, Polk County Health Department, Des Moines, Iowa
• Jeremy Kirk Taylor, lead teacher, Hillview Elementary School, Birmingham, Al.
• Todd A. Thompson, former middle and high school principal, Clarksville School District, Clarksville, Iowa
• Pam Vogel, superintendent, East Union Community School District, Afton, Iowa
• Juma Matu Wachiuri, community support specialist, Rescare, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa
• William Wilson, a founder and administrative dean of Mercy College of Health Sciences, Des Moines, Iowa
• Ryan Wise, director of strategic initiatives, Iowa Department of Education, Des Moines, Iowa

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Department of Education applicants cover letters, Part 1 (PDF)

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Department of Education applicants cover letters, Part 2 (PDF)

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