Corbett's education secretary said to be leaving
HARRISBURG - Another member of Gov. Corbett's cabinet is on his way out.Education Secretary Ron Tomalis is looking for another job and does not intend to stay past summer as Corbett's education czar, two senior administration officials have told The Inquirer on condition of anonymity.
An official timetable has yet to be set for his exit, but the sources said Tomalis would likely stay in his $149,804 job until after the July 1 deadline for getting a state budget passed and signed into law.
He would become the fifth cabinet member to leave since Corbett took office in January 2011. Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander, Environmental Secretary Michael Krancer, Health Secretary Eli N. Avila, and Inspector General Kenya Mann Faulkner have left in the last year.
The sources said a key to Tomalis' decision was growing behind-the-scenes tension between him and some members of the governor's inner circle. They would not elaborate.
As the person running one of the biggest departments in state government, with a $10.5 billion budget, Tomalis is one of the more visible members of the administration.
He has worked on a number of issues that have became political flashpoints, such as Corbett's 2011 push to implement tuition-voucher legislation. That was widely perceived as a fumbled effort, with many pro-voucher legislators complaining that Corbett did not come out strongly enough on the issue, which ended up withering on the legislative vine.
The issue set the administration - and Tomalis - on an early collision course with the state's largest teachers' union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which opposes vouchers. That relationship, especially after Corbett's cuts to public school funding in his first two years in office, has yet to be mended.
Tomalis also pushed for a 2012 law that changes how public-school teachers are evaluated and took strong steps after revelations of possible cheating on the state's standardized tests.
In 2011 he ordered forensic reviews of all exams since 2009, with special attention to Philadelphia. And he called for a probe of allegations of widespread cheating on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests. After he imposed unprecedented security measures on the 2012 exams, many scores dropped.
He also has cracked down on cyber charter schools, which his department oversees. Tomalis moved to revoke two such Philadelphia schools' charters - one for disregarding education needs of students and misspending tax dollars (the school agreed to close), the other for not meeting requirements for online instruction. That school is fighting to remain open.
Tomalis served from 1995 to 2001 as a top education aide to Republican Gov. Tom Ridge. From 2001 to 2004, he was in President George W. Bush's education department, where he managed implementation of the act popularly known as No Child Left Behind.
8 comments:
Later, dude. If you helped bungle vouchers, thank you, I'm against them the way they were proposed. If you tangled with Corbett's inner circle, I respect you for that, because Corbett is no friend of education. By the way, which lobbying firm do you think you will end up joining?
How about this guy for a replacement? He has prior experience in the Corbett cabinet.
Judge won't free ex-PA Health Secretary Eli Avila from egg sandwich lawsuit
By Matt Miller | mmiller@pennlive.com
on January 29, 2013 at 2:28 PM, updated January 30, 2013 at 11:22 AM
HARRISBURG — For the time being at least, former state Health Secretary Eli Avila must remain on the griddle as a defendant in a lawsuit that stems from an argument over an egg sandwich.
Dauphin County Judge Jeannine Turgeon made that decision this afternoon by refusing a bid by Avila to have the lawsuit by Harrisburg restaurant owner Richard Hanna dismissed.
Avila had claimed that his former state post gave him "high public official immunity" from Hanna's lawsuit.
In a one-paragraph order, Turgeon found that pleadings filed in the case so far do not "clearly reveal that as a matter of law (Avila) was acting within the scope of his (state) employment/official duties" when Hanna claims Avila tried to undermine his business.
In the lawsuit, Hanna claims Avila intervened to prevent him from securing a state food vending contract, after the two argued about the edibility of an egg sandwich Avila was served at Hanna's Roxy's Cafe across from the state Capitol in January 2011.
Hanna sued in county court in 2012, claiming Avila used his authority to set city health inspectors on him and sink his chance of running the Capitol cafeteria.
Avila, who has denied Hanna's claims, moved the lawsuit to U.S. Middle District Court, but it was sent back to county court after a judge found that the case couldn't be completely decided under federal law.
In her decision, Turgeon said she will have to hear more testimony before ruling further on the dispute.
Avila resigned from his state job in October.
"Avila had claimed that his former state post gave him "high public official immunity" from Hanna's lawsuit."
ROTFLMAO. Where have I heard that insipid claim before?
Eli, meet Steve.
Steve, Eli.
How do you like your eggs?
Sunny side down and don't turn 'em over?
Thought so.
What the hell is a high public official anyway?
A public official who is high, because they sure as hell ain't thinking straight, per se?
Ah, the Per Se High. Is that legal?
Not really. PA judges typically don't go for it, and appeals are discouraged. It's very costly, though. Is that egg sandwich fresh enough for you, Dr. Gould?
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