Outgoing State Board of Education Supt. Joseph Spagnolo has landed a three-month, $20,000 foundation grant to conduct research and work with faculty at south suburban Governors State University.
The fellowship, which begins Sept. 1, was awarded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation. Paula Wolff, president of the university, is on the foundation’s board of directors and, according to a university spokeswoman, has known Spagnolo for a number of years.
“My guess is that she (Wolff) and Spagnolo thought of this idea and she went to the Joyce Foundation and was able to get the funding,” said Connie Zonka, a university spokeswoman. “We think it is a wonderful opportunity for Governors State. Both the students and the faculty will benefit greatly from him being here.”
Mary O’Connell, communications officer for the foundation, said the $20,000 fellowship will come out of the president’s discretionary fund rather than the education fund. As such, the award was approved by foundation President Deborah Leff and not by the board of directors that Wolff sits on.
“Governors State came to uys and asked us to give them a grant to support the fellowship and we did,” said O’Connell, spokeswoman for the philanthropic group that supports, among other things, education, employment and environmental issues.
It is not clear exactly what Spagnolo will do during his three-month tenure at the university. He could not be reached for comment.
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But Zonka said Spagnolo will conduct research, work with faculty members and act as a guest lecturer.
Spagnolo announced last month that he planned to step down from his $137,500-a-year job at the end of August. As the state’s top educator, he drew praise for shepherding efforts to establish high academic standards in public elementary and high schools, bolstering technology in classrooms and pushing for higher teacher standards.
But he also came under fire for racking up costly limousine rides, heading an agency scorched by a state audit and allowing students to take tests that asked a series of controversial questions about sex.