SARASOTA, FLORIDA — Today, the newly-appointed Board of Trustees at New College of Florida is expected to name former Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran as interim president. The move comes as the New College Board of Trustees is expected to hold their first official board meeting tonight since the shift to a conservative majority. Patricia Okker is expected to step down.
Richard Corcoran served as education commissioner for more than three years after his appointment in December 2018. Since 2010, Corcoran has served as a member and as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
As education commissioner, Corcoran oversaw historic education reforms in Florida that expanded school choice, eliminated common core and invested record funding in students and teachers. He was instrumental in implementing the largest expansion to educational choice opportunities, such as the Family Empowerment Scholarship, while continuing to prioritize quality education access for low-income families throughout the state.
“Richard has been a champion for students and families and a great leader of the Department of Education,” Governor DeSantis said in connection with Corcoran’s departure. “He is driven by his principles and has never shied away from making the difficult decisions needed to improve the quality of education in Florida.”
The Florida Standard reported on the six new DeSantis-appointed board members at New College of Florida who are calling for transformational changes to fix problems at the far-left “echo chamber.” The appointees represent a conservative shift in leadership for the far-Left school that abolished traditional grades in favor of written evaluations.
