Sigoloff Wins OK to Join State Board of Education
Sanford C. Sigoloff, the corporate turnaround specialist whose appointment last year as state school superintendent was derailed, has been appointed to the State Board of Education.
Without debate, the state Senate voted 35 to 0 on Thursday to approve Gov. Pete Wilson’s nomination of Sigoloff to the school board.
The Republican governor had nominated Sigoloff last year to succeed Democrat Bill Honig as state superintendent of public instruction after Honig was convicted of a conflict of interest.
But Sigoloff removed himself from consideration after his prospects for legislative approval became doubtful. He had encountered opposition from teachers and unions that questioned his qualifications for serving as California’s top school official.
Wilson then nominated Sigoloff to membership on the 11-member Board of Education, which shares policy-making authority with the schools chief, a post now held by Delaine Eastin, a former Democratic assemblywoman.
Sigoloff, 64, is best known for turning around ailing corporations. He was nicknamed “Ming the Merciless” after a comic strip villain for imposing drastic personnel cuts to eliminate red ink.
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