Former Maine House Speaker Glenn Cummings is poised to join the U.S. Department of Education, where he’ll work on college-access and career-readiness issues, the Associated Press reported today.

UPDATE: Cummings just told fellow Politics K-12 blogger Michele that he will be the deputy assistant secretary in the department’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education. He starts on May 4, and will focus on college-access and career-readiness issues. He told Michele he’s particularly interested in getting the adult workforce back into education, and in focusing on the “hinge joint” between high school and college—especially those kids who are on the margins and may or may not decide to pursue postsecondary education.

Cummings is currently dean of institutional advancement for Southern Maine Community College. His appointment would mean there would be not one, but two, top Ed Department officials with expertise in community college issues, an area that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan expressed a lot of interest in during our interview with him last month.

Cummings chaired the House education committee in Maine before serving as speaker during the 2007-08 session. He sponsored legislation that requires all Maine high school students to apply for college.