PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Chafee has announced he is recommending the appointment of lawyer Eva-Marie Mancuso as the interim commissioner of higher education for Rhode Island.
The 52-year-old Mancuso could move into the $200,000-a-year full-time position as early as Tuesday if the Board of Education agrees to go along with his request at a meeting on Monday. She has been the board's chairwoman since it was constituted in March.
She said she will resign the chair should be named as commissioner, and also expects to give up her law practice.
In her new role she would be succeeding Raymond Di Pasquale who for the last four years had the dual role of commissioner for higher education and president of Community College of Rhode Island. Plans are for Di Pasquale to keep his $265,000 salary, but return to being full-time CCRI president.
Chafee's announcement did not sit well with state Rep. Helio Melo, the East Providence Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Finance. Melo said the General Assembly did not have a lawyer in mind when it envisioned getting someone to revamp the education system in Rhode Island.