Posted on 06/19/2005 6:00:10 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Blankenship points to thorny relationship with governor
By Jessica Lowell rep5@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - Reaction was mixed Friday in the wake of Trent Blankenship's announcement that he's giving up his post as the state's top educator.
The announcement came at a news conference in Casper, where Blankenship confirmed he has been hired as superintendent for the North Slope Borough School District in northern Alaska.
He said he is leaving his Wyoming state post Aug. 1 but assuming his new duties July.
Blankenship has about a year and a half left in his term.
Even before the news conference, Blankenship had telegraphed his intent, saying in an interview with Wyoming Public Radio broadcast on Friday that if he were offered the position, he would take it. Furthermore, he said, he was not interested in running for a second term.
In that interview and later during his news conference he cited politics and his relationship with Gov. Dave Freudenthal as some of the reasons that he started looking for another job.
"He (Freudenthal) doesn't like No Child Left Behind; I like No Child Left Behind. He likes Kerry, I like Bush. He likes Ladd, I like Cubin. He likes abortion, I don't like abortion," Blankenship said on the radio.
He repeated that later - without the abortion comment - and he said he had difficulties with the governor from the start of his term.
In response to Blankenship's statements, Freudenthal said he doesn't like abortion.
"I am a little troubled by that (statement), but Trent is a troubled man under a lot of pressure," he added. "I still stand by what I said earlier in the week. I hope that things go well for him in Alaska."
Freudenthal said until last few months - when Blankenship has started to speak critically of the School Facilities Commission and the governor's leadership on education - that he wasn't aware there was a problem.
"I supported an awful lot of education funding," he said. "In the end he's pretty troubled and lashing out, and I don't know if I intend to respond in kind."
Freudenthal said he is sorry he is the object of Blankenship's anger when the superintendent is under stress.
"Trent's a good guy," the governor aid. "I think a little time needs to pass."
State officials said they were disappointed Blankenship did not complete his four-year term.
"It's troubling," said state Sen. Jayne Mockler, D-Cheyenne. "If this is about the money, we all know you don't get paid for public service."
But if there are problems in the department, she said, "We deserve to know about them."
Said Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, "I think he found himself wanting to get back to the school district level."
Coe heads up the Senate Education Committee.
Even so, Coe said Blankenship's announcement surprised him and House Education Committee Chairman Jeff Wasserburger, R-Gillette.
"I'm not privy to what else was going on, but I am disappointed he didn't serve out his term," Coe added.
For his part, Wasserburger said the committee's work will continue, including calculating the cost of offering public education in Wyoming.
If anything will be slowed, he said, it's the executive branch. But he added that he has confidence in the staff that Blankenship is leaving behind.
Wasserburger said Blankenship probably had a hard time parlaying his experience as a hands-on district superintendent to the broader job of statewide education leader.
"He knew how to be a good school superintendent," Wasserburger added. "He struggled with the large voices in education with the governor and the Legislature."
Looking ahead, Sen. Rae Lynn Job, D-Rock Springs, said she hopes the Republican Central Committee and the governor focus on a candidate who understands the essence of education and the complexities of the political process.
According to law, the party will submit three names to the governor, and he must choose one of them.
Job said along with education cost study, the state is in the middle of an enormous school construction program and is about to change how students are assessed.
"We need to find someone who will hit the ground running with all of them," she said.
Maybe the gentleman found being State Superintendent beyond his competence. What a novelty for a person to voluntarily give up a job he can't handle! That's just speculation, of course ... maybe he wants to fulfill a lifelong dream of hunting moose and polar bears.
Most probably the governor will appoint a Democrat. Perhaps there will be an explosion of homeschooling in Wyoming.
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