Back in January of this year, Charlotte Mecklenburg’s Superintendent resigned his position after allegations of misconduct that included accusations Morrison created a ‘culture of fear’ for employees at CMS.

Dr. Morrison must be a cat, because he landed on his feet in a cushy McGraw Hill publishing job less than a month later.  I’m sure he’s making more than the over $288k base salary he made as CMS Superintendent.

From the Press release, emphasis added:

NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — McGraw-Hill Education today announced that Dr. Heath Morrison will be joining the company as senior vice president of government affairs.  In this role, he will be responsible for representing the company’s government-related opportunities before federal and state legislators and regulators and representatives of local school districts. Morrison’s team will also serve as advocates for McGraw-Hill Education on policy issues affecting the company and its industry.

*snip*

So in other words, Morrison’s “Senior Vice President” position is basically being a lobbyist.

More at Charlotte Observer:

Peter Cohen, group president of U.S. education for the company, said in a statement that Morrison’s hiring reflects the importance of supporting policies “which improve student achievement.” He describes Morrison as a “leader who has personally carried this mission for multiple districts and will deepen our ability to drive further improvements in education.”

The career change is similar to that of Morrison’s predecessor, Peter Gorman, who left CMS in 2011 to take a job with the nascent News Corp. education division.

“I’m thrilled to join McGraw-Hill Education at such an important time for both the company and the industry,” Morrison said in a statement. “We want to be a strong voice in government affairs to improve the lives of students of all ages.”

Morrison will be a “strong voice” alright —  for Common Core.

McGraw Hill is one of the only two companies named in the Common Core State Standards Public License:

Material Beyond the Scope of the Public License

This License extends to the Common Core State Standards only and not to the examples. A number of the examples are comprised of materials that are not subject to copyright, such as due to being in the public domain, and others required NGA Center and CCSSO to obtain permission for their use from a third party copyright holder.

With respect to copyrighted works provided by the Penguin Group (USA) Inc., duplication, distribution, emailing, copying, or printing is allowed only of the work as a whole.

McGraw-Hill makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of any information contained in the McGraw-Hill Material, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall McGraw-Hill have any liability to any party for special, incidental, tort, or consequential damages arising out of or in connection with the McGraw-Hill Material, even if McGraw-Hill has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

It seems McGraw Hill and Morrison waste no time jumping into the Digital Learning ‘ecosystem’:

#ISTE2015 | Dr. Heath Morrison explains how to teach differently in today’s digital learning ecosystem. #edtechchat pic.twitter.com/FJCGMvdCsd

— McGrawHill Education (@MHEducation) June 29, 2015

(Hat Tip – Common Core Diva)

 Related:

• CMS Superintendent Wants Common Core Opposition to ‘Be Specific’
• CMS Received 200k From Gates For “Strategic Plan”
• New NC Superintendent “Consortium” Recommends 7 Year Common Core Lock In