Missouri's education leaders can get back to business with enthusiasm and optimism this week now that Gov. Mike Parson has made two new appointments to the state Board of Education. The board, which oversees about 900,000 students in K-12 education, has had too few members since December to appoint a new state schools commissioner.
A hefty agenda awaits members, including whether to let an elected school board take control of St. Louis Public Schools. Parson would be wise to give the board a wide berth to conduct its business without executive meddling.
The board's problems were created when Gov. Eric Greitens stacked it last year in a drawn-out effort to oust the widely respected education commissioner, Margie Vandeven. He succeeded in ousting her, but the Missouri Senate retaliated by not confirming Greitens' board appointees.
Parson delivered on the promise he made when he assumed office June 1 that one of his first orders of business would be to fill five vacancies on the eight-member board. Three vacancies remain, but with Tuesday's appointments, the board has enough members to convene for a required semiannual meeting.
Parson understands the urgency parents and families of schoolchildren feel after Greitens steamrolled the public education system to advance his political agenda. The former governor never clearly indicated why he wanted to replace Vandeven, but his efforts appeared aimed at installing someone determined to expand school choice through charter schools and increased use of vouchers. The formerly constituted school board had never turned down a charter school application, and critics contended the move was simply a power grab by Greitens.
Parson is taking a far more collegial approach, reflected by his appointees. One is Peter Herschend, a former president of the education board and one of the members Greitens' booted off last year. Herschend, a Republican, is co-owner of the company that owns Silver Dollar City. The other is Democrat Carol Hallquist of Kansas City, a former Hallmark Cards executive and founder of PrincipalsConnect, a nonprofit that provides volunteers to urban schools.
With the state Senate out of session, the two new members do not need confirmation and can begin serving immediately.
The unprecedented fiasco caused by Greitens' meddling paralyzed the board, forcing cancellation of five of its last 11 meetings and leaving several important issues hanging. Parson's new board has no time to waste on key education decisions, including what kind of board should govern St. Louis Public Schools and its roughly 24,000 students. Other top priorities are deciding how to remake the state's public school evaluation system and whether five low-performing charter schools should lose their ability to operate at the end of the month.
Parson is mending fences, ending acrimony and getting on with the job of governing Missouri. His quick action on the school board is a welcome change of course.
