Frank Holleman filed today as a candidate for the office of South Carolina Superintendent of Education.

Holleman stated: "Today we officially begin our campaign to reform our public schools. Every South Carolinian must be ready to succeed in the fiercely competitive 21st Century economy. South Carolina will produce quality jobs only if we provide our students a quality public education."   Holleman added: "We need a Superintendent committed to the success of public education and who will oppose efforts to undercut public education."

Holleman served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education under former S.C. Governor and U.S. Education Secretary Dick Riley. He also served as Riley's Chief of Staff.
 
A native of Seneca and a resident of Greenville, Holleman served as the founding Vice Chair of the Board of S.C. First Steps to School Readiness, a statewide initiative to prepare young children to succeed in school.  Holleman has been Chair of the United Way's early childhood initiative, Success by Six. Holleman received the first Jesse Coles Early Childhood Education Award, awarded by the Psaras Foundation and S.C. First Steps.
    
Holleman chairs Graduate Greenville, a community-wide effort to increase graduation rates and help challenged students graduate from high school, and has led the Alliance for Quality Education, a private nonprofit education reform initiative.  He has been a trustee of Voorhees College, a private historically black college in Denmark, S.C., and Chair of the Board of Visitors of the University Center, a collaboration of Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, South Carolina State University, the University of South Carolina Upstate, Lander, Furman University, and Greenville Technical College.  He also chaired the Education Committee of Vision 2025 of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce.  Frank has served as Board Chair of the Greenville United Way.

At his alma mater, Furman University, Holleman helped organize the Riley Institute.  He assisted the Riley Institute in its study of South Carolina's educational needs sponsored by the William and Flora  Hewlett Foundation.
    
Following his tenure as Deputy Secretary, Holleman was asked by the Comptroller General of the United States to serve on his Advisory Committee for the work of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and on the GAO's Expert Panel on K-12 Education.  Holleman also was a member of the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, a nationwide panel that advises the Congress and the U.S. Secretary of Education on policies related to helping students and their families pay for college.
    
Holleman and his wife Anne are graduates of the public schools of Oconee County, S.C.  They have three children.  Two have graduated from the Greenville County public schools , and one is a senior at Greenville High School.  Holleman is a graduate of Seneca High School, Furman University, Harvard Law School, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
    
Holleman is a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the primary on June 8, 2010.

For more information, visit www.HollemanForEducation.com.