BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's schools superintendent may want to stick around for another term, but at least one candidate running for governor has no interest in keeping him.
Democratic contender John Bel Edwards, a state representative, said if he's elected governor in the fall he won't allow John White to remain education superintendent. In a statement Monday, Edwards said White "isn't qualified to be a middle school principal."
While the state education board chooses Louisiana's superintendent, the governor has traditionally had a strong hand in making the selection. Gov. Bobby Jindal picked White to be superintendent, but the two men have grown increasingly at odds over the Common Core education standards, which Jindal opposes and White supports.
Superintendent since 2012, White has expressed interest in keeping his $275,000-a-year job when a new governor and new education board take office in January.
But he has repeatedly clashed with teacher unions who are among Edwards' strongest allies, and White has supported vouchers and other programs Edwards opposed.
In reply to Edwards' comments, the superintendent said "politics don't belong in the classroom." He cited improving high school graduation rates, ACT scores and college student enrollment during his tenure.
Asked about White, the Republican front-runner in the governor's race U.S. Sen. David Vitter said it was "premature to focus on specific names and appointments." But he suggested White likely wouldn't win his support either.
Vitter said he'd only support candidates for superintendent who support "completely exiting Common Core."
"I don't think John White would do that," Vitter said in a written statement.
Two other Republicans are running for governor in the Oct. 24 election: Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne.
Dardenne wouldn't comment on whether he'd support keeping White as superintendent. Angelle issued a statement that didn't take a position on whether White should stay as the state's top education leader, saying he expected the state education board "will choose the absolute best education superintendent."