New Republican Governor Eric Greitens has gained control of the state board of education, and he is pressuring them to fire the state commissioner, Margy Vandeven, who has some centrist nonpolitical ideas about helping improve the public schools.
One of the new board members is balking at the pressure from the governor. He doesn’t think he knows enough to fire the state commissioner.
The governor wants to bring in a chum who is committed to opening charter schools.
The state constitution says the board is supposed to be independent and nonpolitical.
The governor is politicizing the board so he can push the DeVos agenda. Apparently he wants to bring in a friend named Kenneth Zeff, who is allegedly a charter school expert. The two of them worked together as White House Fellows during the second Bush administration. Jeff has his BA in economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA in business from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Broadie who worked in the Fulton County (Atlanta) schools and before that for the Green Dot Charter chain in Los Angeles.
The Missouri Association of School Administrators is unhappy about the governor’s effort to take control of the state board.
Melissa Randol, executive director of the Missouri School Boards’ Association, said the governor’s moves are “troubling.”
She said Zeff’s apparent support for charter school expansion “could have a negative impact on all public schools, but especially in rural areas where charter expansion would encourage school district consolidation.”
“We must preserve the integrity of our state constitution to ensure the commissioner does not become a political appointee of the governor,” Randol said.
Vandeven, who earns $191,544 annually, took the helm as commissioner in January 2015, replacing Chris Nicastro. Her goals then included expanding access to early childhood education, improving teacher quality and increasing accountability for teaching colleges.
In recent months, Vandeven, the state education department and state board have also taken a hard hand in demanding charter school quality by heightening pressure on charter school sponsors.
Just today: a challenge to the governor on his removal of state board members:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article184779833.html
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
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Ed reform should just admit they’re all about pushing charters. They work on nothing else.
Would the governor have won if he admitted he had no intention of supporting the state’s schools? I don’t think he would have. At the very least they need to reveal this agenda when they run. It isn’t fair to voters to do these stealth campaigns where they insist they work for “great schools” but then get in and focus exclusively on privatization.
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“It isn’t fair to voters to do these stealth campaigns . . . ”
And those on the regressive xtian evangelical fundie right know that they are doing “stealth campaigns”. That has been part of their agenda since the mid 70s-to hide behind lies and deceit. The KockBros (whose father founded the racist/nativist white xtian John Birch Society) and the Mercers are the leading funders of this stealth campaign. They are drooling worse than my chocolab when he wants a bit of human food (and that is what those SOBs require-human “resources”) as they are seeing their campaign coming to fruition (see Constitutional Convention activity).
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Oops, KochBros not KockBros.
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To answer your question: More likely than not because, hot damn, he was a navy seal. Gods, guns and corporate monies work well in the Show Me State.
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We have a particularly obnoxious campaign ad in Illinois featuring the grinning Republican governors of Missouri, Wisconsin and Indiana thanking Mike Madigan for driving businesses to their states.
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Nice coordinated effort by the GOP, eh! Do you know who paid for the ad?
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I am assuming Rauner did. He can fund his own election campaigns.
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Our own Republican governor has a charter school named after him.
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Is he dead? I thought buildings were only named after dead people (or ego driven bastards).
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What’s that you said about “ego-driven bastards”? I react the same way to sports stadiums being labeled things like “Cellular One Field. Are you kidding me? Couldn’t the corporations even choose the name of some cool dead guy, as you say, to honor and collect the accolades for their magnanimous gesture?
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“Melissa Randol, executive director of the Missouri School Boards’ Association, said the governor’s moves are “troubling.””
Melissa came out to the NPE conference and presented a couple of sessions. Very intelligent person. Nice to see another Show Me Stater at the NPE conference!
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Votes aren’t there but only a matter of time. Red stars have lined up in Missouri.
It’s boiled frog time.
Most people don’t think state boards and commissioners matter… until they do. Uhh sort of like the White House.
And add the SALT in tax bill…. no one will vote in tax increases for schools, police, fire, roads…again especially in the rural communities
The proverbial all white “base” is being used for these gop fools… hypocrites… And when they find out it will be too late.
MO house and Senate are all gop and will railroad anything.
All media – yrs even conservative – should be illustrating how basic life services will be decimated.
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Missouri chose to decay into oblivion. Whenever I am in that state I feel depressed.
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If I could somehow convince the Show Me Staters that they really don’t want to go down that Jayhawk road of “austerity”, but, hey, god, guns and big bad gubmint sells well in ol Missourah!
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Ol Missouri isn’t that bad a place. Gotta know where to go. So, you’ll have to come on a canoe float with me on one of the very beautiful spring fed rivers in southern MO. Nothing but fun and relaxation (as long as it’s in the middle of the week and not during the summer). Or if you prefer hiking there are many trails in the National Forest Areas (but I can’t be your guide on that one-getting a new left hip in a couple of weeks).
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I will be interested to know how the surgery goes. I hope you break al records for a quick recovery. Mine are going although I see little value in replacing them weighing as much as I do.
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Thanks for the kind words!
I’m no small person myself, although I have lost 40 lbs in the last year. Hopefully the advantage of having it replaced will be a reduction in pain, because right now the bone on bone, crunching when I walk and the resulting pain makes getting around, even doing simple household chores very difficult. Until one experiences just how devastating constant pain is, how debilitating, how. . . . (I’ll keep it nice, eh) well, we tend not to notice the little aches as much. I don’t wish any pain on anyone (well except maybe on those who purposely cause pain to others).
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40 pounds! It’s amazing what we can do when push comes to shove. Take care.
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Need to lose another 50 and that wouldn’t even get me close to the recommended weight for my height. But then the only time I was ever at the recommended weight was when I was in college skating everyday being a goalie, partying all night, going to school, working part time and having lots of “fun” every night with the first wife. Those who make those charts don’t seem to understand some of us are big bodied to begin with.
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I thought the expression was “big boned.” Unfortunately my “large frame” has very little to do with my bones. 🙂
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It will be interesting to see how the Post Dispatch walks this particular tightrope….they made it plain, early and often, that they did not like Greitens. He seems to have a lot of the same characteristics as one of their heroes….former Mayor Slay, who was there for 16 years, and did a lot of damage to public education with some of his pushing of charters, which included a takeover which was on shaky ground. He was supposedly a democrat, but he worked well with a major contributor to the republican party…..long time Branson Mo president of the board of education Peter Herschend….they are covering the story, but the big deal was reporting meaningless test results with front page headlines, and explaining just why questar gave them this headline….
Annual report cards show it’s hard to say how Missouri schools are doing. Greitens is likely to run into trouble outstate……sometimes traditional conservative principles like local control of education can be a bugaboo for know it all politicians.
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This week’s Political eye column in the St Louis American has a “right on” description of types of urban Democrats.
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More info: http://claytontimes.com/release-greitens-violated-law-by-ousting-state-school-board-member/
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He broke the law “For the kids?”
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Nah, for his pocket filling backers. We’ve seen this scenario play out before around the country. Usually the Show Me State resists such shenanigans after waiting cautiously to see what happens elsewhere. But now Missourians have dug themselves a political hole by having the legislature and governor’s office be held by the same party. That hasn’t happened that often before.
Two bits says nothing will happen to Greitens, other than him doing a feeble mea culpa and then having his lawyers figure out a different end around the laws.
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For those who think “liberal” states are protected from this nonsense, let me disillusion you.
Massachusetts is typically numbered among the most highly rated states for public education (and Boston the top urban district), but our Republican governor, the seemingly genial Charlie Baker, has named a cabal of businessmen, privatizers, charter shills and test champions to the state board of education. Baker himself starred in ads pushing the expansion of charter schools via a ballot question lifting the state cap on charters. He planned to address charter champions inside the State House, but was forced to hold the rally outside the building instead when the opposition called foul.
After the initiative went down to a resounding failure, it was discovered that Chairman of the board, Paul Sagan, had contributed $600,000 to the pro-charter forces. Baker initially dismissed it as a “nothingburger”. Public school advocates have been pushing for Sagan’s resignation, but so far he has survived. The state board hasn’t been deterred from their charter quest despite the voters’ rejection and has been seeking means to circumvent limits on more charters.
It ain’t democracy.
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