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McQueen to leave state post for national education non-profit




McQueen

McQueen

Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen will leave state service in early January to become the CEO of the non-profit organization National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced Thursday, Nov. 15.

The NIET is a non-profit organization that helps states, districts and schools attract, develop and retain high-quality educators.

Haslam selected McQueen as education commissioner in January 2015, and touted Tennessee education successes achieved under McQueen’s tenure. Those successes include record high graduation rates of 89.1 percent, and the best overall statewide ACT average (20.2) and best overall ACT participation rate (97 percent) in the state’s history.

“Candice has worked relentlessly since day one for Tennessee’s students and teachers, and under her leadership, Tennessee earned its first ‘A’ rating for the standards and the rigor of the state’s assessment after receiving an ‘F’ rating a decade ago,” Haslam said. “Candice has raised the bar for both teachers and students across the state, enabling them to rise to their greatest potential.”

McQueen served as a faculty member, department chair, and dean of Lipscomb University’s College of Education before becoming Tennessee’s education commissioner.

“Serving as education commissioner has been the honor of a lifetime, and it has been especially significant to help lead Tennessee’s schools in partnership with a governor who has been incredibly focused on improving education for all of our students,” McQueen said. “Through my new role with NIET, I will continue to be an advocate for Tennessee’s teachers and work to make sure every child is in a class led by an excellent teacher every day.”  

McQueen’s time as commissioner was also marked by consistent failures and hiccups with the Tennessee Ready standardized testing exam, which led to a hearing with Tennessee lawmakers earlier this year.

Legislators from both sides of the aisle were critical of McQueen, and some called for her to resign.

“For several years now, there’s been a problem, and I feel like we are wanting and forcing to hold our teachers accountable, all the while I don’t know that we’re really holding ourselves accountable,” Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) said.

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