Georgia has a new interim schools chief. Governor Perdue appointed state school board member Brad Bryant to the state superintendent post today.

Bryant is a long-time advocate for education that has sat on the state board of education since 2003. He recently served as the state’s liaison in the Clayton County’s accreditation loss.

Bryant will take the helm of K-12 public schools starting July 1st, filling the remainder of Kathy Cox’s term as she leaves for a national education job.

Bryant plans to run in the superintendent’s race with hopes to keep the position in November’s elections.

But because it’s too late to qualify as a Republican, he says he’ll have to do it as an independent and collect more than 44-thousand signatures by mid-July.

“It is a rather arduous uphill task but it is one in my opinion the students of Georgia deserve," says Bryant.

Perdue says he’d like to be the first to sign Bryant’s petition. There’s currently three Democrats and two Republicans in the contest.

Tags: education, politics, DeKalb County, Kathy Cox, Board of Education, State Superintendent, Georgia School Boards Association, Gov. Sonny Perdue, Brad Bryant, National Association of State Boards of Education