Kevin Huffman is state commissioner of education in Tennessee. John White is state commissioner of education in Louisiana. Both taught for two years in Teach for America. Both worked as TFA staff. When John White worked for the New York City Department of Education, he had no pedagogical assignment;his job was to decide where to locate charter schools in public school space.
What does it say about TFA that its two young state commissioners work for governors following the ALEC script to demolish public education?
This reader writes:
Tennessee and Louisiana appear to be locked in a contest to see which can field the most inexperienced Department of Education. Kevin Huffman, the State Commissioner of Ed, logged two years in a classroom teaching 1st grade in Houston for TFA in the early ’90s before taking an executive job with TFA. His chief of staff taught a couple years with TFA in the mid-2000s, and the assistant director of curriculum and instruction finished her TFA gig in 2004.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Pretty good, Tennessee, but the last Louisiana TFAers I saw were still wearing diapers, and sucking their thumbs – in between firing experienced educators.
Have you ever been fired by an angry toddler shaking his rattle of doom at you? Its not pretty. What’s worse is having to change them before you leave.
Check out New Mexico’s Secretary of Ed-Designee. She can’t even get appointed. She has zero teaching experience.
Hanna Skandera is New Mexico’s Secretary-Designate of Public Education. Secretary-Designate Skandera is committed to transforming New Mexico public schools into world-class academic institutions, ensuring every student has access to a quality education. Previously, she has served as the CEO of Laying the Foundation and an Executive Vice President for Academic Partnerships in Dallas, Texas, senior policy advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Undersecretary for Education for California Arnold Schwarzenegger and Deputy Commissioner of Education under former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Skandera holds a Master’s of Public Policy from Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Sonoma State University.
We call the TFA’ers at the TN Department of Education “The Children of the Corn.” I think they have hired somewhere between 25-35 since Huffman has been here….
Maybe TFA is an employment agency its alums.
They expect pretty highfaluting salaries! Unfortunately, they get them at the expense of the taxpayers, students and educators.
I love it! We need a “Like” button on here.
This thread is depressing.
I wonder what the average years of teaching experience is among the Department of Eds in the, say, ten most “reformy” states.
You betcha!
I’ll be generous-two!
The head of the new Louisiana teacher assessment program, COMPASS, is 27 year old TFAer with two years teaching experience and an expired teaching certificate. She also gets a nice salary of $77,000/year. An uncertified child gets to evaluate me! I love it!!!!
The Compass Director’s name is Molly Horstman.
Appreciate y’alls eagerness to criticize young people in education. Could you imagine what would happen if Google and Apple promoted 20-somethings???
It’s great to ave young people in the schools learning to teach. But it takes experience to run a state agency or an entire city or state. There is a reason that the US Constitution requires people to be 35 before they can serve as President. But you knew that, right?
You just skipped right over the fact that she has two years teaching certificate, no training as a supervisor, and an expired certification. I hope you find a doctor or dentist with no license to perform your next surgery or root canal.
teaching experience I meant