For the first time in years, Maine is poised to have a permanent education commissioner.
Bob Hasson, a longtime educator nominated by Gov. Paul LePage who is also supported by professional educator organizations, is up for a confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. The committee’s nomination will go on to the Senate for approval.
The Maine Department of Education hasn’t had a permanent commissioner since Jim Rier left in 2014.
Hasson has been acting commissioner since November, the last in a string of acting department heads named in order for LePage to keep his top pick for commissioner, Bill Beardsley, in a leadership role without going through the traditional nomination process.
The decision to keep Beardsley in place through temporary appointments drew criticism from lawmakers and education organizations who said the department, with its $1 billion budget, needed a permanent commissioner.
Beardsley resigned in December and LePage nominated Hasson earlier this month.
At the DOE, Hasson previously oversaw certification, educator effectiveness and higher education. Before joining the DOE, he was deputy executive director of the Maine School Management Association and executive director of the Maine School Superintendents Association. He was superintendent of SAD 51 in Cumberland and North Yarmouth from 1993 to 2013.
Hasson earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Saint Joseph’s College, a master’s in special education from Fitchburg State University and a doctorate from Boston College.
LePage has long said education was one of his top priorities, and his administration has some sweeping education reforms, including the introduction of charter schools to the state and shifting to a proficiency-based graduation model.
Much of that work began under LePage’s first commissioner, Stephen Bowen, who stepped down in August 2013. Jim Rier won unanimous support – and a standing ovation – from the education committee to succeed Bowen, but he stepped down less than a year later for medical reasons.
Tom Desjardin was named acting commissioner in April 2015, but suffered a significant injury in a fall and was replaced by Beardsley in October 2015.
LePage nominated Beardsley to be commissioner in January 2016, but withdrew his name after Democrats on the Legislature’s education committee indicated they might vote to block the appointment. At the time, LePage said he would take over some responsibilities of the job himself rather than subject his nominee to political scrutiny. The governor’s comments prompted criticism from Democrats, who accused LePage of circumventing the process for appointing state agency chiefs.
LePage took advantage of legislative loopholes to keep Beardsley in control of the department, without the formal title. In a surprise announcement, Beardsley said he was stepping down in December.
This story will be updated.