Candidates for education secretary: Where's LAUSD's Brewer?

The folks at the Thomas Fordham Institute are handicapping President-elect Barack Obama's pick for secretary of Education. If they're right, it looks like Obama might be looking for a big-city schools chief, someone like Arne Duncan of Chicago or Joel Klein of New York.

Notice who's missing from that list?

That's right -- of the nation's Big Three school superintendents, only David L. Brewer of Los Angeles is NOT considered to be in the running for the Cabinet post.

In some ways, Brewer might seem the perfect pick. After all, he has a home in Virginia, just across the Potomac from Washington. As a retired Navy vice admiral, he knows the federal bureaucracy. And, well, unlike Duncan or Klein, he might soon be available.

Not surprisingly, Duncan -- who's not only from Obama's hometown but regularly plays basketball with the incoming gym-rat in chief -- leads the list. Most interesting addition: Caroline Kennedy. Most of the rest are governors, including Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Tim Kaine of Virginia. For the entire list, with odds, check out Fordham's Flypaper Blog here.

--Mitchell Landsberg

Photo: Los Angeles Times file

Comments

[Peter]

Brewer just finished his 2nd year managing this bureaucratic monster called LAUSD. There's hardly anything to measure him on. However, it's more notable that the previous Superintendent and former political heavy-hitter and governor, Roy Romer, isn't considered.