Glenn Maleyko, superintendent for Dearborn Public Schools, one of the three finalists selected by the Michigan State Board of Education to be the next state superintendent. Aug. 19, 2025 | Screenshot
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Michigan’s State Board of Education is closer to filling the top education post after choosing Lisa Coons, Glenn Maleyko, and Judy Walton as finalists to be the next state superintendent.
Over two days, the board interviewed seven candidates to find the best applicant to succeed State Superintendent Michael Rice, who announced in April that he is retiring effective Oct. 3. Rice has been in the role since 2019.
The board interviewed four candidates on Monday but ended up selecting as finalists all three of the applicants who interviewed on Tuesday. They are:
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Lisa Coons, former state superintendent in Virginia and former chief academic officer for the Tennessee Department of Education.
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Glenn Maleyko, superintendent for Dearborn Public Schools
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Judy Walton, superintendent and curriculum director for Harrison Community Schools
The three finalists will come back next week for a final interview with the board.
The four semifinalists that didn’t make it to the next round were Paul Salah, superintendent for Huron Valley Schools; John Severson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators; Thomas Ahart, an education consultant and former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools; and Christopher Timmis, superintendent for Dexter Public Schools.
Some of the board members noted that they had a strong field of semifinalists.
“We’ve heard from an incredible group of educators who are doing amazing work across the state and beyond,” board president Pam Pugh said.
Board member Tom McMillin, a Republican from Oakland Township, advocated for Timmis and was disappointed he wasn’t a finalist.
“He’s a change agent,” McMillin said, citing what Timmis said about moving away from what he described as a system that rewards seat time toward one that rewards student engagement and attainment of knowledge and skills.
“If we don’t get him, someone else will,” McMillin said.
He voted no on the finalists and fellow Republican Nikki Snyder, who is from Goodrich, initially passed on voting but then said, “You’re welcome to put it as a no.” Snyder and McMillin had advocated for including Timmis as a fourth finalist, but the consensus was to go with three candidates. The six Democrats on the board voted in favor of the finalists.
Here’s what they heard from the candidates, as well as their application materials:
Maleyko: Working together will make it happen
Maleyko, the Dearborn superintendent, said his vision for public education in Michigan is aligned with what the State Board of Education and the Michigan Department of Education, or MDE, have already established as goals toward improving education. Among those eight goals are expanding early childhood education, improving early literacy achievement, increasing graduation rates, increasing the number of certified teachers in areas where there are shortages, and providing adequate and equitable school funding.
“These are all things that we know other states have been successful … at implementing,” Maleyko said.
But academic performance has struggled in Michigan, and other states are showing more improvement on a rigorous national exam.
Maleyko said Michigan needs stronger collaboration between the state and local districts, the business community, students, and other stakeholders to move the state forward.
“We know there’s strengths in Michigan, but there’s also areas where we can improve, and I think together, we can do that, and I’m steadfast in my belief that working together will make that happen,” he said.
Candidates were asked about how their experiences as educators shaped their approach to leadership. Maleyko, in his response, talked about when he was a first-year third-grade teacher at Salina Elementary School in the Dearborn district. A young boy had drawn a picture in his journal of someone being shot. Maleyko, concerned, consulted his principal and the school social worker. The parents, who spoke little English, came in. Through translation, the meaning behind the drawing became clear.
“It turned out that that student saw his uncle get shot … in Iraq after the first Gulf War in the 90s,” Maleyko said. “It was eye-opening, because here’s the thing, I grew up middle class. I didn’t have to deal with what that student had to deal with.
“But the one thing as an educator is that I could work my hardest to make sure that that student will receive the highest possible, best education they could, so that they would be successful in society. That has stood with me throughout my career.” That student’s story has stuck with him for years, and it helps him remember that many other students are dealing with challenges.
Walton: We must grow the ‘future stories’ of students
The school year that began this week in Harrison Community Schools is the fourth one that has had a “future stories” theme. Superintendent Judy Walton said her vision for public education is to expand that theme across the state.
“We want to grow their future stories,” Walton said. “That has to be our vision, and we can’t do anything along the way that takes options off the table for them. It’s their job to write that story, and it’s also our job to sometimes help them see that future, even when they can’t because of things that are impacting them.”
In order to invest in those future stories, she said, Michigan will need to ensure there is “sustainable, equitable funding that recognizes the uniqueness of districts.” Each district has its own challenges and opportunities, and they vary in size and location, she said. In a small rural district like hers, she said, there is less red tape, but there are also fewer opportunities for competitive grants because of their size.
“Overall, it still matters the ZIP code of a child as to what kind of education you get, and that’s still not okay.”
Walton said there needs to be more of a connection between the MDE and districts, teachers, and students. The state education department, she said, must be the leader in making those connections happen and to build on “the great work that’s been happening.”
“We need to be out in front, making those connections, helping districts network with each other, because great ideas are everywhere in the state. But if we can’t connect people to them, they sit in silos, and a silo will be the death of great education across the state.”
When it comes to students, Walton said the Michigan Merit Curriculum, which outlines what classes students need to take for high school graduation, affected how many opportunities students had in school.
“It really impacted elective choices and things like [career and technical education] and things like work-based learning. … I think it also really dampens some of the creativity and love of learning that our kids have. And so I think we have to provide more choices for them, not let go of rigor, not saying we don’t want you to be able to compete. We’ve got to figure out more ways to help have more of their own voice heard in their path to a diploma.”
Coons: Improving early literacy is a key priority
Coons spoke extensively about her experiences in Tennessee and Virginia and described herself as passionate about literacy. When she became executive officer of priority schools in Nashville, at a time when a growing number of struggling schools were at risk of a state takeover, it became imperative to “walk through every single classroom to see what was happening.”
As they walked through second grade classrooms, one troubling theme emerged. “No one was teaching reading. In every single second grade classroom I walked through, they were coloring. Not only were these students having a lot of challenges outside of the classroom, they weren’t having the opportunity to learn to read inside the classroom.”
When she sat down with the principal and second grade teaching team, she asked why they weren’t teaching reading. “And they said, ‘Our children can’t sit still. We are not able to teach.”
Thus began an intensive approach to turn around that school.
“We started with teacher training, instructional materials, partnered with a nonprofit to give deep, deep coaching for our teachers on classroom management and how to implement strategies, but also to our school leaders so they could track the data and understand data,” Coons said.
She told the board that the goal to improve early literacy must be the biggest priority and that Michigan needs to ensure that school districts across the state receive the resources and support they need. She said that how MDE partners with districts will be different in different parts of the state.
“It’s an incredibly important space for us to be over the next five years, to make sure that, first and foremost, our students have the opportunity at the end of third grade [to learn to read], because we know that opens doors for their futures.”
Coons said the MDE goal to increase the percentage of students who graduate from high school is also an important part of the state’s vision for improving education.
“As a student walks the stage, if they’re only ending with graduation, we haven’t served their next step. It’s incredibly important for us to think about what are those post-secondary opportunities that they’re having in high school that help them solidify their steps after they graduate?”
Michigan, she said, has a lot of different opportunities for high school students, such as early college programs and workplace readiness programs.
The goal should be that as students graduate, they’re not asking ‘What’s next?’ but are instead thinking, ‘This is where I’m headed.’
Lori Higgins is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
