December 27, 2006
Stacy Morse (573) 673-6654

*Senator-Elect Jeff Smith's Statement on Gubernatorial Appointee Donayle
Whitmore-Smith*

ST. LOUIS -- Donayle Whitmore-Smith is a leader of courage and action. She
has dedicated the last decade of her life to improving urban education by
founding the Ptah Academy in St. Louis and attempting to provide additional
educational options to children across the state. As an educator, an
activist, and a parent, she has much to be proud of.

That said, she is not an appropriate candidate for the State Board of
Education.

The State Board is the steward for Missouri's public schools. As such, its
members should possess a breadth and depth of experience in public education
and/or a background as strong advocates for public schools. Given Ms.
Whitmore-Smith's lack of experience as a public school teacher,
administrator, or advocate – and the fact that she has spent much of her
adult life promoting private educational options – I am concerned about her
ability to focus on improving our public schools. At a time when the St.
Louis Public Schools are on the verge of losing accreditation and falling
under the purview of the State, all members of the State Board must
concentrate on the task at hand.

Equally troubling was Ms. Whitmore-Smith's noncommittal response to my
question about the relative merits of teaching creation vs. evolution in
public school science classes. In order to train a workforce that will help
Missouri become a biotechnology hub, our schools must teach modern science
and ensure that religious doctrine remains in appropriate venues.

It should be noted, as the co-founder of a group of public charter schools,
I have advocated some of the very alternative educational options that Ms.
Whitmore-Smith has supported. I neither retract my advocacy nor disparage
hers. In fact, I appreciate her energy and her work. While I have not always
agreed with Ms. Whitmore-Smith's policy prescriptions, she has been a
passionate advocate for her cause and fresh voices like hers should be
welcomed.

I have truly appreciated the input of thousands of Missourians while
evaluating this nominee. Lamentably, however, some on both sides have
succumbed to histrionics and demagoguery. Ms. Whitmore-Smith is not out to
eviscerate public education; conversely, voucher opponents are not out to
trap poor children in failing schools. And the abysmal outcomes of St. Louis
public schools are not solely the result of bureaucratic dysfunction but,
more broadly, the consequence of decades of segregation, benign neglect, and
middle-class flight.

For the sake of our children and our state's economic future, we must move
past petty political bickering to come together and find practical solutions
to these problems. That means considering open enrollment policies so that
children can choose any public school in a district, lateral certification
opportunities for trained scientists, mathematicians, and linguists to ease
the shortages of qualified teachers in their subject areas, continuation of
St. Louis's voluntary transfer program, and expansion of innovative charter
schools [such as the Knowledge is Power (KIPP) model] that provide increased
choice within the public school framework while remaining accountable to the
State Board.