Now that she’s had a few days to think about it, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, who was dissed bigtime by Governor Perdue last week, is fighting for power. Last week, the governor, in announcing changes to the education establishment, called June an education “ambassador” and gave the CEO job to Bill Harrison.
Yesterday, Atkinson wrote a letter to state legislators, in which she makes a play for power:
Atkinson won a second term in November, but she has never been given the power to run the Department of Public Instruction. In her letter to House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight, Atkinson said people who voted for wanted her to have the authority.
“Twice I have stepped forward and offered my service and leadership, and twice I have been denied this opportunity,” she said in her letter. “I attribute this denial to the current governance structure as outlined in legislation.”
Way to go, June. Good to see you’re not putting up with treatment you received. As I blogged last week, no man would sit back and take a very public dissing from the governor. A man would push back. And now, so is June.
Governor?
