Ohio's state school board is nearing selection of a new state superintendent.
The 19-member State Board of Education is expected Tuesday to name a full-time replacement for Stan Heffner, who retired in August amid ethics questions surrounding his relationship with a private testing firm.
A selection committee is recommending two finalists to oversee Ohio's public school system: Acting State Superintendent Michael Sawyers, and Richard Ross, top education adviser to Gov. John Kasich.
Their names were culled from a nationwide search that attracted 30 applicants from 14 U.S. states, New Zealand and Bangkok.
It's the second time in as many years that the board has picked a new schools chief. Two years ago, Superintendent Deborah Delisle left the job under political pressure and Heffner was picked as her replacement.