New Mexico’s Public Education Department secretary may be part of Donald Trump’s incoming presidential administration.
That’s according to Politico, which reported it Friday morning, citing unnamed sources.
Politico reported that “Hanna Skandera is under consideration for education deputy secretary or undersecretary in the Trump administration.”
Billionaire Betsy DeVos is Trump’s pick for secretary of education and, like Skandera, is a proponent of Common Core. Skandera took over the governing board for the PARCC test in January, Politico noted.
Before heading to New Mexico, Skandera was the deputy commissioner of education under then-Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
Bush ran for president, but lost in the Republican primary.
Skandera has been serving as the PED secretary since 2011, when appointed by Gov. Susana Martinez. However, she was acting-secretary until Feb. 2015, when confirmed by a narrow majority of the state Senate. Before this, her confirmation never cleared the Senate Rules Committee. Some Democrats criticized her for never working as an educator, which is required to be PED secretary.
Before this, Skandera, according to a column by Leslie Linthicum in 2011, “was part of the Free-to-Be abstinent lifestyle peer education program for Catholic Charities in Sonoma County, Calif.”
Skandera cited that experience when asked about being in a classroom as an educator.
Former Congresswoman Heather Wilson met with Donald Trump to discuss a possible post as the Director of National Intelligence.
