Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, speaking on Spanish-language radio Monday morning, said he turned down a job offer from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Carvalho did not say which position Duncan offered him. A district spokesman later told The Miami Herald that Carvalho was offered an assistant secretary of education post last November.
"The truth is that he offered me a position and I did not accept it," Carvalho told WQBA-AM (710 1140) host Bernadette Pardo in Spanish. "I agree with him that there's a need at the local level for leadership to continue improving the quality of education in our community. It's very important. I love this community."
The issue came up when Pardo mentioned Duncan's Florida visit last week. "I asked him if he was going to take you to Washington," Pardo said. "He said he thought we needed you a lot more at home."
Carvalho has been on the job a little more than three years.
"He felt that the work here in Miami-Dade was not finished," spokesman John Schuster said.
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