Allen Miller is your fifth Board member

I've been caught up preparing for my National Board exam--yes, later today, I feel the pain of a high-stakes test--so I've had to put my District-blogging to the side, mostly.

I will say I'm not entirely surprised that the ESD chose Allen Miller. When the Board deadlocked on Keeffe-v-Tsou-or-Parker, and when I heard the ESD discuss the importance of moving forward, I figured they might go with the guy without any strong ties to any of the sitting members, and without any potential for extra fractiousness once his term began. A couple quotes sustain this thought:

"I think in looking at all the qualifications at all the applicants, all of them were highly qualified. Mr. Miller had the best chance of succeeding in the current environment on the board," Winner said.

"I think his skills of mediating and arbitrating and overall resume was very strong," said board member Rex Comstock.

"We were looking for people whose first priority is kids, and people who could work with other people," said board member Marvin Lam. "Because of the problem there with the existing board, we were looking for someone who could work with them."

What does it mean for the District? Time will tell. There will be a committed group watching Miller's every move, to see if he lines up on one side or another, and how often, because suspicion's still out there that Miller is the conspiracy-appointed rubber-stamper for the Axis of Lahmann.

I don't know, because I don't know and haven't met Miller. That's my only disappointment: that he came in under the radar, and that the public never got a chance to weigh in on his worth. But we've got a lot of work ahead of us, so it won't be long before we all know what Miller's made of.

Now, back to prepping. I've got a test to take.