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VOUCHER ADVOCATE APPOINTMENT TO STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Action
Needed:
Write your state senator now. |
Please
call, write or e-mail to urge your state senator
to oppose the appointment of Ms. Donayle Whitmore-Smith
to the State Board of Education The following link
will connect you to the MNEA Legislative Action
Center Action Alert on the appointment of Ms. Whitmore-Smith
to the State Board. The Action Alert contains a
brief summary and an editable message box to help
you send an email to your state senator on the issue.
http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/issues/alert/
?alertid=9190816&type=ST
&show_alert=1 |
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In November, Governor Blunt appointed Donayle Whitmore-Smith
to the Missouri State Board of Education. The appointment
must be confirmed by the Missouri State Senate in the upcoming
session or the appointment will not become permanent.
Missouri NEA opposes the appointment of Whitmore-Smith and
urges you to contact your State Senator and urge that they
oppose the appointment of Ms. Whitmore-Smith.
The Missouri State Board of Education is similar to your
local school board, but rather than being elected, the members
are appointed by the Governor. Even though these are partisan
appointments with specific members from each of the major
political parties, the State Board of Education’s only
responsibility is supervision and support for our public schools
that educate the vast majority of students in Missouri.
Missouri NEA believes that great public schools are a basic
right for every child. Living up to this commitment requires
steadfast dedication to this goal. Missouri NEA opposes the
appointment of Ms. Whitmore-Smith because she is an outspoken
advocate for school vouchers and tax credits, proposals that
undermine the state’s capacity to establish and maintain
great public schools. Ms. Whitmore-Smith is the founder of
the Ptah Academy of Arts and Science, a private school in
St. Louis that ended operation last year. For a number of
years she has headed School Choice Missouri, a group that
advocates for charter schools and tax credit vouchers. School
Choice Missouri is funded by the Friedman Foundation, an Indiana-based
group that advocates for school vouchers. Whitmore-Smith testified
in Jefferson City for the tax credit voucher legislation that
would have diverted $40 million in public tax dollars to private
schools that aren’t accountable to the public. This
fall she testified repeatedly before the House Special Committee
on School Choice advocating efforts that will undermine Missouri’s
public schools.
The Missouri Education Roundtable, made up of the major statewide
education organizations, and People for Public Schools, the
coalition that fights efforts to undermine public schools,
also oppose this appointment. Missouri’s State Senators
need to know that great public schools are a basic right for
all Missouri children, and all members of the State Board
of Education need to support that principle.
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