Gendron taps new deputy ‘Realignment’ of state positions under way

BANGOR – The Maine Department of Education has a new deputy commissioner.

Angela Faherty, a former assistant superintendent in Windham, has been named to succeed Patrick Phillips after he resigned last month to become executive director of a Washington, D.C.-based organization working to ensure that schools prepare students to be good citizens.

Commissioner Susan Gendron, who was attending an education conference in Oregon, provided the news during a phone conversation Monday morning.

Faherty had been assistant superintendent in Windham when Gendron was superintendent there, the commissioner said. As a “distinguished educator” at the department for the past two years, Faherty has been working with Gendron again – this time on a variety of projects including the Learning Results academic standards, and advanced placement and special education programs.

“I chose Angela based on her knowledge and experience,” Gendron said.

Also as part of what Gendron called a “realignment of positions,” Valerie Seaberg, who has been with the department for more than 20 years, has been named chief of staff. The commissioner emphasized that no new positions have been added at the department and that the changes involved only a realignment of duties.

As deputy commissioner, Phillips created a task force that recommended ways to involve more students in civic and political affairs, Gendron pointed out. His new position is “an incredible opportunity to do this work on a national level,” she said.

Reached at his office at the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, Phillips sounded relaxed and happy.

“I felt the time was right for me to do something a little less demanding,” he said.

Appointed by Gendron in 2003, Phillips also acted as liaison with the media. His former job was “the most gratifying position I’ve ever had,” but also the most demanding, he said.

Even if Gov. John Baldacci is re-elected in November, Phillips, 58, said, “I’m getting a little bit long in the tooth to make an eight-year commitment to such intense work. I felt this would be a good time for me to be thinking about alternatives.”

Assistant superintendent of SAD 28 in the Camden area before becoming state deputy commissioner, Phillips said he considered the idea of heading a school system here in Maine. But, “there were very few superintendent openings when I started my search and fewer still for openings for assistant superintendent. So I thought I would look at a number of organizations down here in Washington that I got to work with in my years at the department of education.”

Being deputy commissioner was “truly the best job I’ve ever had,” Phillips said. “It was such a great thing to have a chance to serve in that capacity, to constantly be challenged with new educational policy questions, to try to figure out how the state could position itself well, to work with all the educational programs around the state. I got to meet so many people and work with wonderful groups.”

Phillips said he plans to spend 85 percent of his time in Washington and the rest in Camden where his wife and two daughters still reside. Now, “I’m living the city life down here. I don’t have a car, I’m six blocks from work, and I either ride the bus or the subway. I’m just having a great time.”