A story in this week’s Boise Weekly warms up the rumor mill for the 2014 elections.
Former state Democratic Party Chairman Larry Grant tossed out a big name as a potential candidate for superintendent of public instruction: Barbara Morgan.
“You can’t print this until you talk to her,” he said. “Barbara Morgan would be an amazing state school superintendent. She hasn’t said ‘no.’ We haven’t put any pressure on her, but we would love to recruit her.”
Contacted by Boise Weekly, Morgan didn’t say “no,” but laughed at length. “That’s funny. I really can’t tell you anything, but that’s an interesting rumor.”
The “interesting rumor” has prompted an online petition drive, urging Morgan to run.
Morgan, a former McCall teacher and astronaut, is a distinguished educator in residence at Boise State University. As Morgan told Boise Weekly, the post requires her to work with a number of government entities.
“So I would like to stay nice and nonpartisan,” she said.
(Disclosure: Idaho Education News is housed under BSU, and its staffers are university employees.)