State Board Of Education Officially Offers Brian Maher $300K To Be Ed Commissioner

From Nebraska Examiner:

By Aaron Sanderford

April 14, 2023

LINCOLN — Nebraska knows what it wants to pay its next education commissioner. The State Board of Education approved offering Brian Maher a three-year, $300,000-a-year deal Friday, despite a dash of late drama.

Minutes before the vote to approve Maher’s contract, North Platte board member Elizabeth Tegtmeier sought to change language about Maher’s ability to do outside work while commissioner.

Tegtmeier and others have questioned the influence of education consultants and consulting firms in the purchasing and hiring decisions of the State Board and local school boards.

Many of the firms pay principals and superintendents for lending them their expertise, and some education leaders later get hired by the firms, spurring questions about conflicts of interest.

Tegteier explained her opposition to the contract requiring only the president of the State Board to sign off each time the new commissioner might seek paid work from outside sources.

The meeting stopped for about 25 minutes while Tegtmeier and State Board President Patti Gubbels huddled with attorneys, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

They drafted an amendment that required approval from the board, not just the president, any time the new commissioner seeks to be paid for work done for outside sources.

The amendment covered speaking engagements, writing, lecturing and other professional services. The board approved the amendment, 8-0, and voted to hire Maher 8-0. He and Gubbels will sign the contract as early as today, officials said. Maher is set to start July 1.

The unanimous votes were closer to the recent norm for the State Board while hiring a commissioner. They had unusual 5-3 split in late March when voting on which finalist to hire.

The majority chose Maher, a former executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents and a former superintendent in Kearney and, Utica, Neb., and Sioux Falls, S.D.

Several board embers, including Patsy Koch Johns of Lincoln, praised Maher’s experience. She singled out his calm demeanor as something Nebraska education needs during a politically divided time.

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