When state Rep. Joe Pickens, the Republican chairman of the Schools and Learning Council, first heard his name mentioned as a possible candidate for Florida education commissioner, he laughed it off as talk. Now he's taking the conversation more seriously. "Some folks in pretty high places have mentioned that I would be a good candidate," Pickens told the Gradebook, without offering specifics on who those people might be except to say it's no one "officially involved" in the search process. So now Pickens, a former school district attorney who lives in Palatka, is assessing what an application for the state's top education post - much less holding the job - would mean for his career and for his family. "I'm definitely interested in being involved in the process of who the next commissioner of education is," he said. Other rumored candidates, including Pasco superintendent Heather Fiorentino and former Leon superintendent Bill Montford, have said they won't apply, while K-12 chancellor Cheri Yecke has said she's in the hunt for the job.