Governor Kristi Noem will begin her second term as Governor with her third Secretary of Education. Current Ed head Tiffany Sanderson is leaving the department to head Lake Area Tech:
Tiffany Sanderson said Wednesday she will start January 1 at Lake Area Tech in Watertown. She succeeds retiring Mike Cartney, who’s been president since 2014.
…Sanderson has served as state education secretary for Governor Kristi Noem since December 9, 2020. She replaced Ben Jones, who moved to state historian. Sanderson previously oversaw the four technical schools for the state department.
Sanderson’s current salary is $142,938.79. She said the Watertown contract is in place but she deferred to the school district regarding the amount. Cartney’s 2020 salary was reported at $135,106 [Bob Mercer, “SD Ed Secretary Starts New Year in New Job at Lake Area,” KELO-TV, 2022.11.23].
Expect Noem to nominate a cheerleader for her Hillsdale social studies standards, perhaps Professor Jon Schaff or Janet Finzen or some other loyal flunky from her rubber-stamp standards rewrite committee (though most certainly not Dr. Samantha Walder, who is the most qualified educator on that panel to serve as Secretary of Education). Or maybe she’ll promote the exemplar of Hillsdale College education, campaign attack terrier Ian Fury, to the Cabinet to help his alma mater co-opt and dismantle South Dakota’s public education system.
Mr. H might be in the mix to get the tap here. You never know.
Happy Thanksgiving to all you fellows. They are coming to pick grudznick up soon, to take me to the feasting. May your gravy be plentiful and not from a can.
Whoever she picks, it is likely to be a nightmare. While the Governor campaigns for her next job nationwide, she will force the Department of Education to embark on all kinds of whack-a-doodle, right wing extremism, just to solidify her prospects as a viable national candidate. We can only hope that local Superintendents and school boards, bar the school house door.
Might that be why young Ms. Sanderson is throwing in her cards, Mr. Blundt? The gauntlets ahead, where the legions of the teacher’s union flail and commit autothysis as they are pointed to do by the usual union leaders, are not going to be fun ones for the new Educational Secretary. It will take a fellow who can sternly say “no” to the whining of the masses. In fact, could this be an attempt to distract the teacher’s union?
Grudz two favorites, teachers and unions. He knows nothing about how either run. Neither run on gravy grudz.
An old fellow I know, Stebbins was his name, retired as a teacher just a few years back. He was a pretty big gravy hound, Mr. Anderson. Your statement is not absolutely correct.