LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Incoming Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday named a top Florida schools official as her pick to lead the state’s education agency.
Sanders tapped Jacob Oliva, a senior chancellor at the Florida Department of Education, to serve as secretary of the Arkansas Department of Education.
She said she’ll also seek to have the State Board of Education appoint Oliva as the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Sanders touted Oliva’s “proven success increasing student achievement” and said in a statement that “we will expand access to quality education for every kid growing up in our state, empower parents, not government bureaucrats, and prepare students for the workforce, not government dependency.”
Sanders earlier this month announced Capt. Mike Hagar, a 26-year veteran of the State Police, as her nominee for secretary of public safety.
In other recent appointments, Sanders has named Kristi Putnam as the state’s new Department of Human Services secretary and former Entergy Arkansas CEO Hugh McDonald as Department of Commerce secretary.
