Johnson to continue leading Board of Education

The State Board of Education on Monday selected Marva Johnson to serve a second consecutive term as board chair.

Johnson was appointed to the board by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014 and chosen for her first term as chair in 2015.

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The board consists of seven members, who serve for four years but can be appointed by the governor for another four years.

Chairs serve for two years but can be elected by members for one more consecutive term.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Johnson said Monday after receiving unanimous support from the other members.

Johnson also proposed during the meeting to develop a workshop around computer science education in response to board member Gary Chartrand's concerns.

Chartrand, who preceded Johnson as chair, said the board needed to take a “deep dive” into science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education for kindergarten- through 12th-grade students across the state.

Commissioner Pam Stewart pointed out to Chartrand that STEM education was already part of Florida's strategic plan for education, but Chartrand said the plan didn't go far enough.

He proposed getting data on how Florida's STEM education, specifically its high school coding programs, “stacked up against the rest of the country.”

Johnson said she'd met with programing company Code.org and asked for similar information. Johnson, 47, lives in Winter Garden and is vice president of state government affairs for the telecommunications company Charter Communications South Region.


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