It's no secret that Senator John McCain's age will be a factor in this year's presidential race. At 72, he would be the oldest man to take the office in the nation's history.
But I can't help but wonder whether age might also be a factor when it comes time to select the next education secretary--that is, if Senator Barack Obama wins in November.* That's because the two Democrats most qualified for the position are also both in their 70's: Roy Romer (79), the chairman of Ed in '08, former Los Angeles superintendent, and former governor of Colorado; and Jim Hunt (71), the former four-term governor of North Carolina and head of the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy.
I've mused about a Secretary Romer before, so let me ponder a Secretary Hunt. (Warning: Gush alert.) I'll be frank: he'd be incredible. I'm down in Raleigh right now for the Hunt Institute's annual governors symposium (no media allowed, which means no live-blogging for me). It's only the second chance I've had to spend time with the former governor and both times I walked away feeling the same: I'm in the presence of greatness. This is a man who knows how to lead, how to communicate in regular language, and how to get things done.
And when it comes to education policy, he gets it. He said it last night: solving this education problem of ours is a job for the governors. They have to take ownership of it. The feds can help (though they usually don't) and input from educators is important, but only governors can offer the kind of leadership needed to move an education system forward.
An education secretary who respects the governors as the true leaders of education reform--now that would be a change we could believe in.
* And if McCain wins, here's an education secretary idea for him.
