FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Dr. Jason Glass announced that his last day as Kentucky’s commissioner of education will be September 29. He was appointed commissioner by the Kentucky Board of Education in 2020. His four-year contract was set to expire in September 2024. Now, he'll be heading to Western Michigan University to serve as the associate vice president of teaching and learning.
Glass says Kentucky’s political climate played a role in his decision to step down. "You don't take a job like the one that I have, not knowing that things can get political and that something like this could happen. In fact, it's becoming a more common exist story for state education chiefs around the country."
Glass addressed why he'd be leaving three years into his four-year contract. His contract with the board of education includes a clause that allows him to terminate his employment at his discretion with 60-day written notice to the chair. Glass says he's enjoyed being able to return to his home state.
He says, "We've come back to my home state, a place that gave so much to me — where my great-grandparents, and grandparents, and my parent's third generation Kentucky educator. To get to do this job in this state has been an incredible honor."
Glass came to the position six months into the COVID-19 pandemic. He also navigated two natural disasters — tornadoes in western Kentucky and flooding in eastern Kentucky. KDE's chair, Lu S. Young, said in part, "Thanks to his forward-thinking leadership, we have a statewide portrait of a learner that articulates a set of high expectations for every learner....”
Glass explains that politics are being injected into education. The commissioner says, "I think that going forward, we are increasingly injecting partisan, hyper-partisan politics into educational policy decisions, and that's going to make that work of balancing the policy part of this job and the best interest of students part of this job more difficult going forward."
Glass believes it will become more difficult for KDE to be an independent voice moving forward — citing political statements directed at him and the agency. He said that SB 150 was a tipping point for him, saying he didn't want to be a part of implementing what he calls "dangerous and unconstitutional, anti-LGBTQ" legislation. Despite its difficulties, Glass says education is still a great profession.
He says, "For anyone considering education, it remains a great field, it remains a great profession, and it's a great way to spend your life. At the same time, I need to say to the policymakers in Kentucky — you're making it really hard, and it’s starting to show. Again, we all have an interest in having great schools in our communities and in our states. We want to protect them, we want to grow them, we want to support them, and we need to take direct steps to do those things."
