Former Lawmaker Considers Run For State Superintendent

Former House Education Committee Chairman Ron Black of Twin Falls has joined others sizing up state Schools Superintendent Anne Fox for the next Republican primary.

“I’m seriously thinking about it,” Black said. Included among the hopefuls is Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo.

Black said he is worried about the Department of Education, including a “lack of leadership in direction and education, and the impasse with the state Board of Education.”

Black also said he wants to cut down the number of department employees.

The first-term superintendent would welcome competition in the May 1998 primary, Fox spokeswoman Rhonda Edmiston, adding the incumbent has already cut about 40 positions within the agency.

Black, director of Twin Falls’ Refugee Center, is perhaps best known for his conflicts with local schools over their educational philosophies, which he said gave him a “broader look” at educational issues.

“Some of those people are my strongest supporters.”

That does not include Principal Dennis Sonius, whose Morningside Elementary School in Twin Falls came under attack in 1995 after Black suggested it had altered scores on the 1994 Iowa Tests of Basic Skills to jack up its results.

Sonius would prefer to see an educator in charge.

“It’s not just a business,” he said. “There’s no substitute for actually working in the classroom.”