The Senate education committee has voted 16 to 6 in favor of confirming Jon B. King Jr. for Secretary of Education.

King’s nomination will now move onto the full Senate for a final vote.

John B. King Jr. has been Acting Education Secretary since Arne Duncan resigned at the end of last year.

Many are surprised by King’s nomination for the permanent role because “it had seemed that he would continue as acting secretary for the final months of the Obama administration, allowing the president to forgo what might have been a difficult confirmation battle in the GOP-led Congress,” said The Washington Post.

The passing of the new education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, and the need for it be appropriately implemented has led to widespread bi-partisan efforts to move the process along.

While many support King’s nomination, he has his fair share of critics, as well.

A letter backed by several well-known education advocates urging the Senate to deny King’s nomination circulated last week.

The letter, written by 20-year-old education advocate and author Nikhil Goyal received the backing of education advocates like Carol Burris and Diane Ravitch.

It focuses on John B. King’s time spent as New York State’s Education Commissioner.

King’s “style is inflexible and he is quick to criticize the motives of those with whom he disagrees. He persistently refused to consider the desperate please of students and teachers who were reporting that the Common Core and value-added teacher evaluations were not working,” the letter, which was republished by The Washington Post, says.

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

3/10/2016