OMAHA- The Nebraska Board of Education chose Brian Maher, former executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents and a former superintendent in Kearney, Neb.; Utica, Neb.; and Sioux Falls, S.D as the next education commissioner of Nebraska. Maher was confirmed on 5-3 vote which is different from the last two commissioners who were unanimously approved.

Maher’s supporters — Patsy Koch Johns, Lisa Fricke, Patti Gubbels, Jacquelyn Morrison and Deb Neary — applauded his experience leading schools and education bureaucracies. “You could see that he was very, very experienced,” Koch Johns said. “Very careful and very calm … that’s something in Nebraska we need right now.”

Board members voting no — Elizabeth Tegtmeier, Kirk Penner and Sherry Jones — said they preferred a different candidate and questioned the fairness of the hiring process. “I find it interesting that this candidate is a longtime colleague of one of our consultants,” Tegtmeier said. Maher knows Joel from his time as a Nebraska superintendent.

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