State's top schools job draws crowd

Three Gulf Coast-based education professionals recently applied for an unlikely promotion to the job of Florida Education Commissioner.

The trio represents three of the 19 applicants for the Tallahassee-based position, which will become available June 10 when current Education Commissioner Eric Smith resigns. The applicants, according to a report from the News Service of Florida, are Sarasota third grade teacher Edward Hashey; Brian Lomio, a student achievement coach at a Pasco County elementary school; and Oleh Bula, principal of the SKY Academy, a Sarasota charter school run by the South County YMCA.

Hashey, states the News Service, wrote about puzzles in his application letter. “Since I was 4 years old,” wrote Hashey, “I have loved to do jigsaw puzzles, and I see this position as a double-sided 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle where the pet beagle devoured four of the pieces.”

Hashey, Lomio and Bula face strong competition for the post, from a group that includes former Education Commissioner Tom Gallagher. Plus, the News Service reports the State Board of Education extended the deadline for applicants to June 6, in a move to find more qualified candidates.