Richard Ross says his first job as superintendent is to make sure policies that have been enacted are being implemented -- such as the third grade reading guarantee and new assessments in English and math. And he isn’t ready to talk about the battle going on now over the new school funding formula in the governor's budget, which he outlined for school officials and reporters during the budget rollout.
ROSS: “I’m no longer working for the governor – I’m working for the State Board of Education. And so they have not taken a position yet on the Achievement Everywhere plan. That will be discussed at our board meeting next week, and then we’ll be able to maybe talk about it more then.”
KASLER: “But right now, you can’t take a stand?”
ROSS: “I will not. Not yet.”
And while Democrats have said he’s too close to the governor to effectively advocate for public schools, Ross says he has been able to discuss disagreements with the governor in the past, and stresses that he works for the state school board now.
