From May 2016: What Has Mesa Learned From Incompetent School Administrators??

In the scattering of the still-smoldering ashes from the abrupt leave-of-absence and forced resignation of MPS Superintendent Ember Conley that follows the resignation of previous Mesa public schools Super Michael Cowan over more "financial irregularities" where his public reputation got redeemed receiving 'a calling' to go on an LDS mission to an undetermined location, there's above all the entrenched generations-old PATRONAGE SYSTEM that connects both education and politics.
Former AZ Politician/Educator Mesa resident Richard Crandall Gets The Boot in Colorado

Dear readers, this will take some time to get through, so let's start with the most recent and most clear reporting first, followed by another one three days earlier and one going back to March 2011.

From the get-go - five years ago - any reasonable person might get curious about the overlapping roles of so-called "educators" [with no degree in teaching] becoming politicians who get entangled in questionable real estate deals or other irregularities,  then go back into education thanks to an illegal appointment and tendering his immediately-effective resignation admitting  "personal and professional limitations" . . . this went down two days ago!  With a big family to support he'll need to find another job sometime soon.

This all might have dropped out of the news or gone under-the-radar screen locally, except for what happened to Mesa resident Richard Crandall in conservative Colorado where he was Commissioner of Education for just four months, after nine months in the same position in the state of Wyoming.
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BLOGGER NOTE: Two other states - Colorado and Wyoming - were quick to realize Rich Crandall's shortcomings. He could not dependent on the closely-held connections in the entrenched Patronage System established here in Arizona.
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Here's a report from The Colorado Independent

Why Colorado’s education commissioner quit

Marianne Goodland
May 20, 2016 Education

"Colorado’s Commissioner of Education announced Thursday he is quitting after just four months in the position. The job was more than Rich Crandall could handle, according to a joint statement from the board and him.
Crandall’s resignation takes effect immediately . . .
Crandall is a former Arizona state senator who served six years before resigning to take the helm at the Wyoming Department of Education, a job he started in July 2013, overseeing 91,000 students statewide.
Crandall was appointed by the governor but the state’s Supreme Court said in January 2014 that the governor did not have the authority to appoint what had previously been an elected position.
 [Blogger note: The position of Director was dissolved when the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled the legislation that created the position unconstitutional.]
Crandall left Wyoming in April, 2014 and returned to Arizona, where he owns a nationwide company that provides consulting dieticians to assisted living and long-term care facilities.
The Colorado Board of Education hired Crandall despite his lack of significant management experience in education.
Prior to his time in Wyoming, Crandall’s most-closely related educational role was as chair from 2005 to 2008 of the Mesa Public Schools (AZ) Board of Education, a district with 69,000 students.
He acknowledged in his job application he has never worked as a teacher or principal.
In announcing his departure, Crandall cited family responsibilities and the demands of the job.That same news release included a statement from board Chair Steve Durham, which said that while he appreciated the importance Crandall put on family needs, he also recognized his own “professional and personal limitations in this demanding position.”
Blogger's note: image and excerpts from Marianne Goodland's report is the following link

http://www.coloradoindependent.com/159375/why-colorados-education-commissioner-quit 

> Colorado education commissioner resigning

4 months after starting

May 19, 2016, 3:49pm MDT Updated May 19, 2016, 4:23pm MDT

Colorado Education Commissioner Richard Crandall is resigning his position four months after he was appointed by the state Board of Education.

Crandall cites the fact that his family lives out-of-state (including school-age children) as being the prime reason for his resignation, as well as . . .

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> Education

• M.B.A., University of Notre Dame, 1997
• MA, Accounting, Brigham Young University, 1993
• B.S., Accounting, Brigham Young University 1993

He is a Certified Public Accountant and he is the Founder and Chair of CN Resource and is also the CFO/Partner for Crandall Corporate Dietitians, and a managing member of Delos Development
He currently serves on the board of directors of digital marketing firm ChannelNet.
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he is married to Leann Larson Crandall and together they have 13 children (seven from Rich's first marriage to Patrice Webb and six from Leann's first marriage)
Crandall is a moderate Republican former member of the Arizona State Senate and Arizona House of Representatives.
Elected in 2007 to the House and 2010 to the Senate, he resigned from the Senate on August 16, 2013, and the seat was declared open when President of the Senate Andy Biggs (R) received his paperwork on August 20, 2013.