[Vision2020] Rush Earns Idaho Education Board's Top Job

[lfalen]

I think Mike will do a good job. Kirk is realy proud of him.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Sue Hovey" suehovey at moscow.com
Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 11:05:46 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com,  "Tom Hansen" thansen at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Rush Earns Idaho Education Board's Top Job

> Mike is from Moscow--grew up here with his family.  Kirk, his dad, taught in 
> MHS and Imogene his mom, was a supportive parent of her high school kids.  I 
> can't imagine Mike doing anything other than an outstanding job.  I am proud 
> of him, but not surprised he got the appointment without the outside search. 
> He has his hands full and he will do well.
> 
> Sue H.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 6:55 AM
> Subject: [Vision2020] Rush Earns Idaho Education Board's Top Job
> 
> 
> > >From today's (May 24, 2008) Spokesman Review -
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------
> >
> > Rush earns Idaho education board's top job
> >
> > Interim director's work on budget, morale cited
> > Jesse Bonner
> > Associated Press
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/3ohj3m
> > Dr. Mike Rush greeting Governor Otter.
> >
> > BOISE - The Idaho state Board of Education has skipped a national search
> > for an executive director and instead appointed interim director Mike Rush
> > to the position permanently after he helped bring the agency back from the
> > financial brink.
> >
> > "They're pretty pleased with the job he's been doing," board spokesman
> > Mark Browning said Friday.
> >
> > The board appointed Rush as interim director in September when trustees
> > came under heavy fire from both Gov. Butch Otter and the Senate Education
> > Committee for accounting miscues that left the board with a $1.4 million
> > deficit last year.
> >
> > The board also flubbed an $18 million federal grant to help low-income
> > students attend college. Board President Milford Terrell, who conceded
> > earlier this year the board was a "dysfunctional family," was forced to
> > ask private foundations for matching state funding so Idaho wouldn't lose
> > the federal grant.
> >
> > As interim director, Rush ordered a complete audit of the board's fiscal
> > procedures and helped stanch an outflow of personnel amid a morale crisis
> > that preceded his arrival.
> >
> > "He has put us on a path that we will finish the year in the black with
> > our budget," Browning said. "Good people attract good people. When you
> > take a guy that has that kind of stability, that attracts stability."
> >
> > The agency's woes made it a frequent target of the Senate Education
> > Committee during the 2008 Legislature.
> >
> > Critics on that panel, including Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden, had
> > encouraged the board to conduct a national search for a new director, a
> > new chief financial officer and a new chief academic officer. That's after
> > the agency's two previous directors, Dwight Johnson and Karen McGee, were
> > hired from within the ranks of Idaho state government.
> >
> > Jorgenson said he's now satisfied Rush's selection is appropriate - even
> > though Rush's previous job was as administrator of the Division of
> > Professional-Technical Education, housed within the Board of Education.
> >
> > "If it were anyone else that was appointed from the stockpile, I'd be
> > disappointed," Jorgenson said. "But Mike Rush is a terrific guy. He's
> > worked under some tough conditions. I'm satisfied that Mike is probably as
> > good as the board could have gotten on a national search basis."
> >
> > Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, said
> > Rush was a good choice.
> >
> > "I've got a lot of respect for Mike Rush," Goedde said. "That job seems to
> > be eating people alive over the last couple of years. Hopefully he'll last
> > longer than the last three directors did."
> >
> > The board hired Rush after an executive session this week in Boise.
> > Trustees approved a salary of $110,000 per year for Rush, including a
> > $7,000 bonus for the work he did as interim executive director.
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------
> >
> > Seeya at Farmers' Market, Moscow.
> >
> > Tom Hansen
> > Moscow, Idaho
> >
> > "People who ridicule others while hiding behind anonymous monikers in 
> > chat-
> > room forums are neither brave nor clever."
> >
> > - Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch (August 21,
> > 2007)
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------
> > This message was sent by First Step Internet.
> >           http://www.fsr.com/
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
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