Missouri Governor Eric Greitens was looking to make some real changes in Missouri’s education system. Rash decisions weren’t always welcome, and rather than conduct a fair and open process, it appears as though Missouri’s governor has instead decided to terminate those who would stop his plan.
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"He requested my vote to remove Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven from her position and to hire a new-to-the-state candidate recommended by the governor without open process," she said, in the one-page letter. "In short. I was surprised by this request."
Gelner said she resisted pressure to make the change quickly — as soon as the Sept. 19 meeting — and alleged Maddux explained she might be "reassigned to a new role" if she failed to comply.
"I told him I would not commit to voting in favor of removing the commissioner from office at the September board meeting," she said. "I certainly was not in favor of quickly hiring a new commissioner without a transparent and open selection process."
In the end she was assigned a new role — one she can create on her own, as she’s been removed from the committee altogether.
Greiten’s has been making repeated attempts to replace Vandeven, a popular and well respected commissioner. The pressure to do so has resulted in the Governor pushing a merry go round of potential state board nominees who decide to quit rather than follow through on the Govenor’s mission.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A third person appointed to the Missouri State Board of Education by Gov. Eric Greitens has withdrawn from the panel, hampering the first-year Republican governor's efforts to find enough votes to replace the current education commissioner.
Springfield resident Heidi Crane declined the appointment to the board, prompting one current member to call Greitens incompetent and an amateur, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
"I've been in politics for 35 years. I have never had an elected official ask me to go get someone fired," Jones said. "On top of being wrong, it was just incompetent and not very well done."
While political discussion often includes phrases like incompetent, in this case it is hard to think of another word that accurately fits. Three failed attempts to appoint a new member, firings, and pressure, and the Governor still seems a long way away from completing his goal of making major conservative change to Missouri’s education plan.
That doesn’t, in any way, mean he won’t stop trying, but for today the Governor continues to be the class clown.