Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley says she'll resign at the end of the month after just more than three years in that post.
Neeley, a former teacher, administrator and school superintendant, has been commissioner since January 2004. She said in her announcement that she wanted to serve for five years. But she just scraped through a recurrence of skin cancer — she's cancer-free now — and wants to spend more time with her family. Neeley indicated in her notice to the agency staff that she decided to quit after finding out the governor wasn't going to reappoint her.
"I can compare my situation to that of a superintendent when a school board decides to take no action or not extend their contract," she wrote. "Anyway you look at it, the message is clear: when it is time to go, it is time to go."
Perry hasn't said who he'll name in her place.
Neeley got good marks from one of the state's teacher groups, which also took the opportunity to spank the governor and the Legislature.
"As a veteran educator herself, Commissioner Neeley has tried to keep in touch with educators in the field who actually have to implement the policy edicts and inadequate budgets handed down from the governor and legislative leadership," said Texas AFT President Linda Bridges. "In the process, she has helped to round off some of the rough edges of those policies and make them more workable."
