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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A businessman nominated to the Mississippi Board of Education on Friday has already worked on creating public school policies on the federal and state levels.
Jason Dean, 41, of Madison, was chosen for the nine-member board by Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves.
Dean will succeed Wayne Gann of Corinth, whose nine-year term is expiring. Dean will serve several months while awaiting confirmation by state senators — a common practice for people nominated to state boards while the Legislature is not in session.
"This is a great opportunity to commit some public service back and to take some of the skill sets I picked up along the way and do something meaningful," Dean said in an interview Friday.
Dean worked from 2003 to 2006 as education policy adviser for then-Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican. As a 2006-07 White House fellow, he worked under the federal secretary of education. After returning home, Dean was a vice president of the state chamber of commerce, the Mississippi Economic Council. He now works as vice president of program development for Tenax Aerospace, an aviation company based in Ridgeland.
"Having gotten training in education policy and having the privilege to be in private business, I've been able to understand what the work world anticipates coming out of our educational system," Dean said.
He said he'd like to work on reducing Mississippi's high school dropout rate. He cited a 2006 Gates Foundation report that showed a large share of the high school students who dropped out of school nationwide, including many with above-average grades, did so because classes were not interesting.
"I believe education really does have the potential to change the trajectory of people's lives in an immediate way," Dean said. "Work hard, get a good education and you can be anything you want to be."
Dean is a 1992 graduate of Jackson's Wingfield High School, with a bachelor's degree in international studies from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master's degree and a doctorate, both in education, from the University of Mississippi.
He and his wife have children in public school.
"Jason knows what companies expect from today's workforce and has the knowledge to help Mississippi schools prepare students for college and a job," Reeves said in a news release. "I appreciate his commitment and passion for improving our public schools for all kids in Mississippi."
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