The Department of Education made it official Friday afternoon: Colorado Senate President Peter Groff has accepted a federal education post.
Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, announced Groff’s appointment as director of the office’s Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Center.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to work in the administration and continue to try to improve education,” Groff said Friday.
He said he will stay through the session, which must end by May 6, and start his new job sometime the next week.
“It will be sad to leave the Senate, but there’s great talent there. I don’t think people will miss me,” he said, with a laugh.
The Denver Post reported Thursday that Groff, a Denver Democrat and second-generation lawmaker, had accepted the position. At the time he had no comment.
Groff has long been a champion of education reform, sometimes to the chagrin of teachers’ unions.
“Give ’em hell, Peter,” said Alex Cranberg, a Republican well-known in Colorado’s school-choice movement.
But many of his accolades came from fellow Democrats, including Gov. Bill Ritter.
“Sen. Groff is a man of faith, and I believe President Obama and Secretary Duncan made a great choice,” the governor said in a statement. “While I consider him a great partner in the legislature, I know this is a wonderful opportunity for him and his family, and I wish them the best.”
Groff said his wife, Regina, the pastor at Campbell Chapel AME Church in Denver, and two children, Malachi, 8, and Moriah, 6, eventually will move to Washington with him.
He said he is not sure yet what his wife will do.
“She’ll find a job — she’s very talented,” he said.
Groff’s job will be to “help em power faith-based and community groups, enlisting them in support of the department’s mission to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence for all Americans,” according to the news release.
The position does not require Senate approval.
Groff said the administration’s education team approached him earlier this year and discussions ensued.
Groff, who has served in the legislature since 2001, is the first black Senate president in Colorado history.
House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, praised the appointment.
“Peter is more than a leader, more than a barrier-breaker, more than a role model: Peter’s been a friend and a mentor to me and to so many African-Americans, so many Coloradans,” Carroll said in a statement.
“It has been a true privilege and honor to serve with my partner in history, my dear friend and colleague. I will truly miss having his presence in the Capitol and in Colorado.”
Groff said his resignation will be effective sometime in May. The Senate’s Democratic caucus will elect a new president, and a Democratic vacancy committee will choose someone to fill his northeast Denver seat.
The seat was once held by his father, Sen. Regis Groff, who carried the legislation that made the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a state holiday.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
