By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – Interim state schools Superintendent Joe Morton appears to have the support he needs to be named permanent superintendent. The State Board of Education plans to meet Tuesday morning, and three of the nine members of the board said Monday that they plan to vote to make Morton the permanent replacement for Ed Richardson. Two other board members had said earlier they'll also vote to make Morton's position permanent. Those five votes give Morton the majority he needs to be head of state schools. The alternative to directly appointing Morton would be to conduct a national search for the position, and in that case, Morton could still end up with the job. A national search could also cost 100-thousand-dollars.