Two local educators with very different backgrounds are the last men standing in the competition to be the state’s new commissioner of education.
The State Board of Education announced Thursday that it has narrowed the field of candidates to Aurora schools Superintendent John Barry and acting state education Commissioner Robert Hammond.
The announcement came a week after the board met for hours to interview as many as half a dozen candidates for the statewide job.
The board will meet Wednesday to conduct final interviews.
Barry, a retired Air Force major general, has led Aurora Public Schools since 2006. He is a 2004 graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy, which trains business and community leaders to run urban school districts.
Before he retired from the Air Force, Barry was a director of the investigation into the Columbia space- shuttle disaster.
Hammond has done the commissioner’s job since Dwight Jones left the post in December.
His long career in education includes a number of administrative positions in school districts including Wichita and Boulder.
Before his education career began, Hammond worked in banking and also has served as assistant city manger in communities in Kansas, Iowa and Oklahoma.
Jones, Colorado’s last education commissioner, left to head Las Vegas schools. Jones was paid $223,680.
State Board of Education chairman Bob Schaffer has said the board hasn’t determined a salary for Jones’ successor, saying it will depend on that person’s experience and background.
By law, the board must wait a minimum of 14 days after announcing the finalists to make a hiring decision.
