‘A new day.’ Kentucky Senate confirms education commissioner for first time

For the first time, the Kentucky Senate on Monday approved the confirmation of the state’s education commissioner.

In voting for the confirmation of Lawrence County Superintendent Robbie Fletcher, Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, head of the Senate Education Committee, called Fletcher “the Mark Pope of Kentucky Education.” He was referring to the popular, newly hired University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach.

The senate voted 36-1 to approve Senate Resolution 285, introduced by Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, which called for the confirmation of Fletcher.

“I am honored and humbled to serve as Kentucky’s new education commissioner on July 1,” Fletcher said in a statement after he was confirmed. “I am grateful for the Senate’s faith in my ability and my desire to accomplish great things for our students, our educators, our families and everyone in the Commonwealth. I plan on taking the same ‘All In’ approach I have taken during my time as superintendent of Lawrence County Schools as we continue to strengthen public schools in Kentucky.”

Fletcher knows “the problems, knows the positives, we look forward to working with him each step of the way,” said West.

Fletcher said he looked forward to maintaining that working relationship with lawmakers. Throughout Fletcher’s confirmation process, several senators commented on the lack of that working relationship with Fletcher’s predecessor, former Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass.

“I think that was one of the things that was very evident in the meeting today, is to make sure that you talk with us,” Fletcher told reporters after his confirmation. “And I love that invitation. So as long as those lines of communication are open, I think we’ll work well together not only in the Senate, but also the House.”

As the chief state school officer and chief executive officer for the Kentucky Department of Education, the commissioner recommends and implements Kentucky Board of Education policies and directs KDE in the management of the state’s 171 public school districts, the Kentucky School for the Deaf, the Kentucky School for the Blind and the 50 state-operated area technology centers. Kentucky has approximately 634,424 public school students.

On April 12, Kentucky Senate Education Committee members, many of them Republicans, showed support for Fletcher at a meeting and said he would have their vote on the Senate floor when a resolution supporting his confirmation was called.

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Kentucky’s Republican-led General Assembly has had a contentious relationship with both Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and Glass.

This was the first time a nominee for commissioner has gone through the legislative approval process after lawmakers passed Senate Bill 107 in 2023.

Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, who sponsored the 2023 measure that now requires Senate confirmation of Kentucky’s education commissioner, reiterated on the Senate floor that Fletcher was not under the Governor’s authority, but the General Assembly’s.

Wilson said Kentucky’s former commissioner didn’t meet with lawmakers for 18 months and “continually threw the legislature under the bus” in written updates to districts.

Glass resigned last year after Republican lawmakers criticized the Department of Education’s inclusive LGBTQ+ stances. He said a “dangerous” law — Senate Bill 150 from 2023 — that critics called anti-LGBTQ, led to his departure.

When asked about the law April 12, Fletcher promised to “love all kids.”

Wilson said he was pleased that Fletcher met with lawmakers prior to the confirmation vote.

“I see a new day in the commonwealth of Kentucky and this process has been great,” Wilson said.

Fletcher said he cried when he first got the call to become commissioner.

”Because that’s how much it meant to me, because to say, again, that we trust you with our kids, there’s no greater compliment,” he said.

Sharon Porter Robinson, chair of the Kentucky Board of Education, praised Fletcher as the ideal candidate for the role in a Kentucky Department of Education news release.

“We sought feedback from numerous Kentucky education stakeholders throughout the process and Fletcher embodies all of the qualities we could ask for,” said Robinson. “Throughout his time as a teacher and school administrator, Fletcher has demonstrated the qualities of an ambassador and statesperson, an expert instructional leader and a visionary innovator. We look forward to watching him flourish as the commissioner of all public schools in the Commonwealth.”

Fletcher has been the superintendent of Lawrence County since 2014. Before that, he served as principal of Sheldon Clark High School in Martin County from 2009 to 2014 and as principal of Warfield Middle School in Martin County from 2005 to 2009. Fletcher started his career in 1996 as a math and science teacher before becoming the assistant principal at Inez Middle School in Martin County in 2004.

Politics and Public Affairs Editor Tessa Duvall contributed to this report.