Koch,
Air Max 97 Uk, who began his tenure in 2006, has been the state's longest-serving superintendent in nearly five decades, according to state board spokesman Matt Vanover. The unassuming former special education teacher has received wide praise for his oversight of changes to state testing and teacher evaluations, but Rauner recently told the Chicago Tribune editorial board that Koch was "a good person" but "not transformational."
A deputy superintendent of the San Francisco school district and a superintendent of a two-school district in the bay area, Smith was named superintendent for Oakland schools in 2009, a district that was emerging from state control and faced a $40 million structural deficit. It had a balanced budget when he left the district four years later.
Though his background is in urban schools, board member John Sanders of Marion said Smith indicated plans to travel across the state to better understand challenges of central and southern Illinois districts, many of which are suffering following years of state funding cuts.
A California native, Smith played briefly with the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers, though not in any regular season games, after graduating with an English degree from the University of California Berkeley, where he later earned masters and doctoral degrees from its graduate school of education.
"Of course when you go behind closed doors, everybody is never in 100 percent agreement, but you figure out what's best for the state," Meeks said.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)