Former Gov. Jim Hunt says we can take him off the list of potential education secretaries in Barack Obama's administration.

Hunt says he'll advise Obama on education, but he has no interest in going to Washington, reports Lynn Bonner.

Hunt's name has appeared on several lists of potential education secretaries, including in Time and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Hunt called Dome on his way back from a three-day stay in Seattle, where he attended a Gates Foundation meeting on education. Obama education advisors attended, including the leaders of Obama’s education advisory board.

"I just spent several days with the top Obama people," Hunt said. "Many encouraged me to do it. I told them I would not go to Washington."

Still, Hunt said he expects to work closely with the U.S. education department from his base in North Carolina.

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Former Gov. Jim Hunt will talk about national education policy for the new Obama administration when he accepts an education award this month.

N.C. State University's College of Education will give Hunt, the four-term governor who started Smart Start, its Friday Medal on Nov. 19, Lynn Bonner reports.

The medal, named for former UNC president William Friday and his wife Ida, is awarded each year to education innovators.

Hunt continued to be active in education after he left office in 2000.

He served on the federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education assembled by President Bush's education secretary. He is chairman of the board and a founder of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a California-based think tank. He also serves as board chairman of the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy at UNC, which works on improving  K-12 education in the United States.

Is this a speech or a job interview? Discuss.