Wise Malloy veto

There’s no need to restrict options for selecting future state education commissioners.

Gov.

Dannel P. Malloy made the right decision in vetoing a bill that would have set specific requirements for future state education commissioners. The state’s two teachers’ unions, unhappy with some of the reforms pushed by the governor’s first commissioner, Stefan Pryor, had pushed for the changes to avoid a repeat appointment.

Lawmakers also made the right call in sustaining the veto, despite having approved the original bill by large margins.

The bill would have restricted the governor to appointing someone with a minimum of five years of classroom experience and three years of school administration. The bill won approval unanimously in the state Senate and received a 138-5 vote in the House.

Gov. Malloy was correct in his veto message when he said such a law “encroaches on the purview of the chief executive of the state to select a candidate who s/he deems the best available.”

The labor unions representing teachers may not have taken a liking to Mr. Pryor’s background and his reform agenda— including broader use of teacher evaluations, making it easier to remove ineffective teachers, and support of charter schools — but he was arguably the right man for the job at the time.

Mr. Pryor’s primary educational experience was in support of charter schools, but his main expertise was economic development. He accepted a job in economic development in Rhode Island after resigning as commissioner. However, Mr. Pryor’s strength in pursuing public policy served the governor well as he pushed for major education reform in 2011.

The legislature already has the power to block someone from becoming commissioner, because it must approve the governor’s choice. Implementing specific qualifications would impose the standards of the current legislature on future legislatures and governors.

As Ramani Ayer, board vice chairman for the Connecticut Council for Education Reform, pointed out in a guest commentary published by the Connecticut Mirror, having specific and unbending qualifications can be problematic. He noted James Ryan, dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, would be disqualified for the job of education commissioner in Connecticut, had the proposal become law. “That would be simply illogical,” wrote Mr. Ayer. Indeed. With an extensive background in teaching and administration, the current education commissioner, Dianna Wentzell, easily meets the requirements that would have been contained in the proposed law. She is well suited to implement the reforms passed during Mr. Pryor’s tenure.

It is, however, not a one-size-fits-all job. The governor’s veto recognized that.