SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:
Governor’s top school aid named to state board
By Kimberly Beltran
Less than a month after she retired as executive director of the State Board of Education, Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday tapped his former top education advisor Sue Burr to fill a vacant seat on the panel that sets state-wide K-12 education policy.
It was also expected that Brown would name Burr’s replacement sometime today. Burr retired at the end of December, and just last week, the state board appointed its chief counsel, Judy Cias, to serve as Acting Executive Director in her absence.
Brown also on Monday named Lompoc resident Nicolasa Sandoval, 42, to fill a second vacancy on the SBE, and reappointed member Ilene Straus to another term on the board.
“We’re figuring out how to use [Burr’s] broad and deep background in the most effective ways,” said board president Michael Kirst, a Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University who was appointed to his post by Brown in January 2011, along with current members Carl Cohn, Patricia Rucker, Aida Molina, Trish Williams and Straus.
“Gov. Brown has relied a lot on her advice, and I expect he will continue to seek it in the future,” Kirst added. “She has