Brown appoints 7 to State Board of Education
Published: January 11, 2011
Gov. Jerry Brown moved swiftly to put his stamp on California’s State Board of Education, nominating seven people to the 11-member panel in his first week of office—and then substituting a replacement when former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig withdrew his name from consideration.
Each appointment requires confirmation by two-thirds of the state Senate within a year, and each member serves a four-year term. State Board members receive a $100 per diem compensation.
Five new members will be seated for the State Board’s Jan. 12-14 meeting in Sacramento, replacing President Ted Mitchell and board members Alan Arkatov, Benjamin Austin, James Fang and David Lopez. Those new members’ biographies, adapted from the governor’s press release, follow:
Carl Cohn, of Palm Springs, is a professor and the co-director of the Urban Leadership Program at Claremont Graduate University. Previously, Cohn served as superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District from 2005 to 2007. He was formerly a clinical professor with the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California and superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District.
Michael Kirst, of Stanford, is a professor emeritus at Stanford University, where he has taught education since 1969. He previously served on the State Board of Education under Gov. Brown from 1975 to 1982.
James Ramos, of San Bernardino, is chairman of the San Manuel Band of Indians. He was re-elected in 2010 as a member of the San Bernardino Community College Board of Trustees, where he has served since 2005.
Patricia Ann Rucker, of Elk Grove, has been a legislative advocate for the California Teachers Association since 2008 and was previously a consultant for CTA on instruction and professional development after teaching in the Del Paso Heights Elementary School District near Sacramento.
Ilene Straus, of Marina del Rey, is an assistant superintendent for educational services at the Beverly Hills Unified School District. She was previously an administrator in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. She replaces Bill Honig, who was initially appointed but withdrew his name.
2 more to be seated
Current State Board members Ruth Bloom and Johnathan Williams will be replaced after the board’s January meeting by these appointees:
Aida Molina, of Bakersfield, is the executive director on academic improvement and accountability for the Bakersfield City School District. She was formerly a commissioner with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and a principal or assistant principal with Bakersfield CSD, the Sacramento Unified School District and the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District. Molina was originally a bilingual teacher.
Trish Boyd Williams, of San Jose, is the executive director of the nonprofit EdSource research and analysis organization. She previously served as a program consultant to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth and as a management analyst for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Those changes will leave four State Board members who were appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: James Aschwanden, Yvonne Chan, Gregory Jones and student member Connor Cushman.
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