The fourth state school superintendent in the last five years started work Monday.
Paolo DeMaria came ready to greet staffers at the Ohio Department of Education.
“I bought 300 donuts and we were down in the lobby starting at 7:30 just to welcome all the staff.”
DeMaria says he’ll be dealing right away with new federal regulations, new testing, and working with a state school board that the interim superintendent said was marked by what he called “political sniping”. DeMaria was selected unanimously but knows that support might not last.
“I think I’ve made it clear that we’re not always going to agree. But some of the fundamentals we’ll always agree on,” he said.
DeMaria will also be working on a $71 million grant to charter schools that was delayed by the feds – but that DeMaria says he’s confident the state will get.
