Kansas Education Commissioner Diane DeBacker is resigning to become an adviser to the chief education official in Abu Dhabi.
DeBacker told the State Board of Education yesterday she will step down on May 14th.
Debacker says she was recruited to become the adviser to the director general of the Abu Dhabi Education Council in the United Arab Emirates.
DeBacker is a 53-year-old Kansas native who joined the State Department of Education in 2003. She was named acting commissioner in 2009, and the board then named her commissioner in 2010.
Board members praised her as an innovative leader.
The board named Deputy Commissioner Brad Neuenswander as acting commissioner while it conducts a search for DeBacker’s replacement.
