As Arkansas’ first secretary of education, Johnny Key will implement Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s government transformation efforts for students in pre-kindergarten through graduate school.  Hutchinson announced Key, the current education commissioner, as one of 15 cabinet secretaries Wednesday.

The act, which takes effect July 1, combines the Department of Education, led by Key; Department of Higher Education, led by Dr. Maria Markham; and Department of Career Education, previously led by Dr. Charisse Childers. Also part of the new department will be the School for the Blind & Visually Impaired, the School for the Deaf, the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission and the Arkansas State Library.      MORE