NY Education Official Tapped For Top RI Job

A senior New York education official is set to leave for a new post. Ken Wagner, Senior Deputy Commissioner for Education Policy, was nominated Wednesday to Rhode Island’s top education job.

Wagner oversaw troubled times at the New York education department. He helped hand down multiple revisions to the state’s controversial Common Core rollout, and he’s been even more prominent over the past few months since Commissioner John King left for a job in the federal government.

Wagner’s nomination still needs approval from Rhode Island state officials, who are set to consider it next week. The decision would come just as the New York Education Department gets a new person in its top job. Commissioner MaryEllen Elia started Monday.