I've been quite transparent about my interest in seeing the education secretary job filled by a sitting or former governor. I think governors tend to make great cabinet secretaries, in part because they understand politics, in part because they are seen as equals by the big egos on Capitol Hill, and in part because they appreciate the limits of federal involvement in education. That's why I liked Jim Hunt, and then Bill Richardson, for the job.
But Hunt took himself out of contention. So did Tim Kaine. Richardson went to Commerce. Napolitano took Homeland Security. And now Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius has taken herself out of contention, too.
Sure, there are a handful of gubernatorial contenders left, but none are perfect. Former Georgia governor Roy Barnes staked his political future on a big fight with the teachers unions on tenure (and lost, poor guy)--so he's appealing. But his work on the NCLB Commission left us wondering if he wanted to be Minister of Education and had missed the key lessons of the NCLB era. (See: hubris alert.) Roy Romer was a heckuva governor of Colorado and did the Lord's work in Los Angeles too, but, well, there was that whole Ed in 08 debacle. And there's a lot of talk about former Mississippi governor Ray Mabus, but really, does anyone talk about the "Mississippi miracle"? ("Now that's what we have to do--take the lessons from Mississippi school reform and apply them to the country as a whole." Sorry--I don't see it!)
Which is a long way of saying...keep your bets on Arne Duncan.
