California Watch is reporting that Michael Kirst, who served as president of the state board of education during Jerry Brown's first governorship, is returning to the post. Brown's office has yet to confirm the appointment.
Kirst is a prominent thinker on education policy, from a perch on Stanford. If he's Brown's choice, it would be just another blast from the past for the once and future governor. Brown previously announced he would name an aide from his first governorship as health secretary.
At last week's education budget summit at UCLA, Brown compared himself to Rip Van Winkle, the character from the Washington Irving short story who wanderedi into the mountains and fell asleep -- and didn't wake up for another 20 years. This may be shaping up as an administration of Rip Van Winkles.
