Gov.-elect Dan Malloy said early this week he is reserving judgment on whether to replace the state’s top education official, but a few days later gave a pretty strong hint: He told reporters he had asked U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan if he knew of any likely prospects for the job.

Duncan and Malloy sat at the same table at an Obama Administration lunch for incoming governors Thursday. Later he said he and Duncan had talked shop, and Malloy asked the secretary to send along any names of qualified candidates.

State Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan has expressed interest in staying on in a Malloy administration.

Colleen Flanagan, a spokeswoman for Malloy, said Malloy “welcomes all applicants, including the current commissioner, who are qualified, energetic and share his commitment to education reform and excellence. He looks forward to discussing this appointment with members of the Board of Education.”

Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

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