Newly elected senator blocks Blunt appointee to education board

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A newly elected state senator Wednesday blocked the gubernatorial appointment of a private school advocate to the board governing Missouri's public K-12 schools.

Sen.-elect Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, said he would not sponsor constituent Donayle Whitmore-Smith for Senate confirmation proceedings to the state Board of Education.

Republican Gov. Matt Blunt, although expressing frustration, said he would withdraw Whitmore-Smith's nomination and appoint someone else.

Whitmore-Smith had been opposed by a coalition of organizations representing public school teachers, administrators, school boards and parents. Among their concerns was her support for vouchers and state aid that could help students leave public schools for private ones.

Whitmore-Smith runs School Choice Missouri and had led a rally at the Capitol for failed legislation that would have provided tax breaks for contributions to groups that help students attend private schools. She also founded the Ptah Academy of Arts and Science in the St. Louis area, which has since closed.

Smith said the nominee's position on vouchers played a role in his decision not to sponsor her. But of equal or greater importance was what Smith described as Whitmore-Smith's lack of experience in public education and her refusal to rule out the teaching of creation in science classrooms.

Blunt had appointed Whitmore-Smith in October, and she already had participated in board meetings pending potential Senate confirmation hearings after the legislature convenes Jan. 3. Senate tradition requires gubernatorial appointees to be sponsored by their home-district senators.

Elected in November but not officially a senator until Jan. 3, Smith had been heavily lobbied from all sides about Whitmore-Smith's nomination. Smith said he talked with her extensively before deciding not to back her.

"It was a difficult decision because I do like Donayle and I think she's clearly passionate about urban education and trying to improve it," Smith said. "However, the state Board of Education is there to oversee public schools, and given her paucity of experience in public education, I don't believe that was an appropriate appointment."

Blunt has said Whitmore-Smith would have helped create a "diversity of opinion" on the state board.

"I am deeply disappointed that one of the senator-elect's first actions is obstructing the appointment of a well-qualified African-American woman who would have done a magnificent job on the state's school board," Blunt said in a written statement Wednesday.

Whitmore-Smith said she was disappointed but not surprised that Smith (of no relation) blocked her nomination.

Whitmore-Smith said she taught briefly in public schools several years ago but added that she doesn't believe public school experience should be a criterion for serving on the state board.

Blunt spokesman Jessica Robinson said Whitmore-Smith will remain on the board until Blunt can name a replacement or until the early February deadline for the Senate to confirm or reject nominees, whichever comes sooner.

The governor will have to pick someone from the St. Louis area. No more than one member of the eight-member Board of Education can come from each congressional district or county. That means Blunt's replacement appointee must come from either the 1st or 3rd congressional districts in St. Louis city, or St. Louis, Jefferson or Ste. Genevieve counties.