The search for a new state commissioner of education – after the predecessor’s controversial firing – has been put on hold after Governor Eric Greitens rendered his Board of Education appointees powerless today, no doubt to calm the grumblings from the Missouri Senate.
At noon on Wednesday, January 3, Greitens said that he reappointed his five interim appointees to the Missouri State Board of Education.
In essence, that means that the five people he appointed can no longer make decisions on the school board until the Senate confirms them.
“I appreciate the Senate reaching out, to let us know they want ample time to hear these appointees,” said Greitens in a statement on January 4.
Now down to three confirmed members out of eight, the board doesn’t have a quorum to vote for hiring a new commissioner.
Greitens swore in his current five board appointees after the 2017 legislative session was over, causing many in the Missouri Senate to cry foul. The Senate must confirm the appointees to finalize the process. Greitens has actually appointed 10 members total, but only five of them still remain on the board. One board member has filed a lawsuit because he claims Greitens pulled him off the board for voting against the governor’s agenda.
These appointees have already been making big decisions without the Senate’s blessing – including firing Margie Vandeven as commissioner of education on Dec. 1 in a 5-3 vote.
Mike Jones (who also serves on The St. Louis American’s editorial board), Vic Lenz and Charlie Shields voted against the change in leadership.
“I know that the governor is going to have a hard time getting his appointees appointed because of the overhanded move he made,” said State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis), who sits on the Senate Gubernatorial Appointment Committee. “A lot of senators are dissatisfied with how they fired the commissioner. They are going to see push back as a result.”
Led by Greitens’ appointees, the board was making quick work of looking for Vandeven’s replacement, with the application deadline ending on January 8. Only one person had applied as of Wednesday. Greitens’ move has put that on hold. The Senate has until May to confirm his appointees. While the Gubernatorial Appointment Committee has a meeting on January 4 at 9 a.m., the education board members are not on the agenda.
State Board Member Mike Jones of St. Louis said the governor’s appointments last year showed a “gross disregard” to how the state operates.
“I think he’s going to get a bill for that,” said Jones, the only African-American and Democratic board member. “He did a lot of damage, and the damage he did cannot be repaired. You can’t go back to before Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall.”
Jones notes that every appointee has to be sponsored by the state senator who represents the district where appointee lives, and that might also pose a barrier for Greitens.
“The governor is about to learn that the Senate is the master of the political universe, not the governor,” Jones said.
The board is scheduled to have a meeting on January 9, but Shields said he is not sure if they will meet since they can’t vote on anything. They will still hold the public hearing scheduled for 2-5 p.m. on Monday, January 8 to gather public input on the characteristics that Missourians would like to see in the next commissioner.
The hearing will be held in the State Board of Education Room on the first floor of the Jefferson Building, 205 Jefferson St., Jefferson City, Mo. The room will open to accommodate public seating at 1:30 p.m. Visit the LiveStream page to listen to the meetings at http://livestream.com/MoDESE/
