Jason Glass
The director of the Iowa Department of Education is a finalist for a job in a Colorado school district.
Iowa Department of Education director Jason Glass was director of human resources for the Eagle County School District in Colorado for three years and that’s where he hopes to return, as superintendent.
This was Glass two and a half years ago, when Branstad announced he’d hired Glass: “There are some who would label me as an education reformer and they mean that in a derogatory way. To this I would say that if that means that I believe our schools can and must improve, then I accept that title…I believe our schools are a foundational part of keeping our nation great.”
Read more and listen to that December, 2010 news conference here.
Glass worked at the Eagle County District in Colorado from 2007 to 2010 and briefly worked for a private, non-profit group before Governor Branstad asked him to become Iowa’s education director in December of 2010.
“This is a great opportunity for me,” Glass said the day his hiring was announced. “…We’re really excited to come here and do great things.”
Branstad asked Glass to organize an “education summit” in the summer of 2011. Legislators this year as struggling to find compromise on a reform plan Glass helped draft that’s aimed at improving the teaching profession in Iowa. Branstad cited Glass’s work in developing a performance-based pay plan for the Eagle County district when he hired Glass.
The Vail Daily newspaper in Colorado reports Glass is one of three finalists to be Eagle County’s new superintendent. Glass’s pay would rise to $175,000 a year if he gets the Colorado job. His salary as a state department director is currently $147,000.