Key hired as new state education commissioner

New Education Commissioner Johnny Key addresses the state Board of Education on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, after it voted to hire him.
New Education Commissioner Johnny Key addresses the state Board of Education on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, after it voted to hire him.

The Arkansas Board of Education voted Wednesday to hire former state Sen. Johnny Key as the state's new education commissioner.

The board convened in a special meeting and immediately went into executive session for the sole purpose of interviewing and considering Key, Gov. Asa Hutchinson's recommendation for the post. The executive session lasted more than two hours before the board emerged and unanimously voted in public to hire Key.

In a brief speech to the board after the vote, Key thanked them and pledged to work closely in bettering the state's education system and "communicating all the wonderful things that are happening."

"Our state is poised for great growth," he said.

Key's hiring was contingent on a change in state law that previously required the commissioner to hold a master's degree and have 10 years of teaching experience and five years of administrative experience, qualifications Key does not hold.

Act 525, which was signed into law by Hutchinson last Wednesday, changed those standards so that either the commissioner or the deputy education commissioner meet them.

Key, a Republican from Mountain Home, resigned last year to become the University of Arkansas System's associate vice president for university relations. He had been in the Senate since 2009 and formerly led the Senate Education Committee.

Key also served in the state House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009. He succeeds Tony Wood, who was named education commissioner last June after Tom Kimbrell left the post to become superintendent of the Bryant School District.

See Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.

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