Earlier we looked into Arne Duncan's eyes and got a sense of his soul. But what about his team? Who is likely to get jobs in the new administration? This Week in Education's Alexander Russo pondered that question yesterday. (Alexander's not so great at lots of things, like accuracy, or thoughtfulness, but he does know how to dish gossip.)
Let me fill in a couple of holes in Alexander's analysis with a bunch of unreliable, secondhand information. First, let's start at the top (or at least near the top). I've heard more information in recent days that makes me think that the Linda Darling-Hammond as Deputy Secretary rumor is true. Jon Schnur, I understand, has agreed to take a job; I'm not sure which one but Alexander is probably right to surmise chief of staff. (He was spotted "behind the glass doors" in the inner sanctum of the Secretary's office the other day, so maybe he's already playing that role.) Andy Rotherham, too, is almost certainly going to join the administration. Note to Alexander: it wouldn't take a very high profile job for Andy to "lord" it over me, as my official title at the Department was "Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary." It's not hard to beat that.
As for Wendy Kopp, I hear that she was offered a big job-Deputy maybe?-and turned it down. So too did Ted Mitchell of the NewSchools Venture Fund, among others. Let's face it: there are plenty of jobs in education reform that are more fun (and more lucrative) than working 80 hours a week for the federal government.
Finally, everyone seems to know that Russlyn Ali, the director of Education Trust-West, is going to be the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.
Stay tuned; Arne Duncan told Alyson Klein at Education Week that the personnel picture would "get a whole lot clearer over the next two weeks."
UPDATE (5:16 pm): It's official: former Kennedy staffer Carmel Martin will be Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, and Peter Cunningham will be Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach, a role similar to the one he played for Duncan in Chicago. Congratulations!
