PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education said today he will be leaving the position at the end of the next school year, after 17 years at that post.

The R.I. Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education will vote on April 23 to extend Peter McWalters’ contract through June 2009, because McWalters had told board members he was not interested in a two-year extension of his contract, which is right now set to expire at the end of this year.

The board asked him to stay on until next year so he could continue work on several key initiatives, including instituting the new high school diploma system, attempting to improve test results in Central Falls and Providence, developing new teacher evaluation methods and revising the state’s Basic Education Program.

“I am honored to serve as commissioner of education in Rhode Island, and I thank the Regents for their endorsement of my commitment to public education and my ongoing work in Rhode Island,” McWalters said in a statement. “I plan to work with the governor and the board over the next year to follow through on the many regents’ initiatives currently under way and to ensure that we manage a smooth transition to new leadership.”

McWalters was appointed in 1992, and he has overseen some major changes to the state’s educational system. Test scores of public school students have shown steady improvement during McWalters’ tenure, R.I. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education noted in an announcent today. But scores have still lagged in some districts, including most of the state’s urban areas. (READ MORE)