Missouri has a new state commissioner of education; she held the office last year before she was fired due to the actions of former Gov. Eric Greitens.
Margie Vandeven was named Tuesday as Missouri's new State Commissioner of Education. Her duties will begin Jan. 2.
"It is an honor to return to the department, and I remain committed to doing what is best for the children of Missouri," she said in a news release from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
"I look forward to working with stakeholders from across our state - urban, rural and suburban. Through active collaboration among state and local leaders, educators and our families, we will - together - advance opportunities for each student," she said of her return.
Greitens last year appointed members to the State Board of Education who were favorable to his agenda of firing Vandeven, and the five Greitens appointees succeeded in doing that in a closed meeting in December 2017.
However, the Greitens appointees themselves soon were gone before they could select a new commissioner, and without a quorum, the board's remaining three members did not meet until June - at which time they swore in new members appointed by Gov. Mike Parson and restarted the stalled process of finding a new commissioner.
Interim Commissioner Roger Dorson has led DESE in the meantime. Vandeven said in a Tuesday afternoon phone conference that Dorson would stay on with the department.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday there had been four finalists for the job, including Vandeven. She told the Post-Dispatch she had been nominated to reclaim her job and had not sent in an application.
The board accepted applications and nominations from Sept. 19 through Oct. 19.
State Board President Charlie Shields said four finalists were interviewed Monday, and added nominees like Vandeven were asked if they had an interest in serving, and if they were, they had to provide background material and a resume to be considered.
Shields would not say who nominated Vandeven, and added none of the finalists were among the applicants who had expressed interest in the job last December.
"We had some good candidates in there," Shields said of the first call for applications, but added there had not been the quantity of responses received this time around.
Vandeven's selection as the new commissioner by the independent State Board of Education was unanimous.
At least one state legislator - Rep. Courtney Allen Curtis, D-Ferguson - was not in favor of Vandeven's return to DESE and the state education board.
"While her qualifications and knowledge of the department may be strong characteristics of a good commissioner, I believe that we will see more of the same from that department under her leadership. Nothing she can offer will move the state forward in a new direction in regard to addressing the issues facing the education system here in our state," Curtis said Tuesday in a news release. His specific concerns were with the findings of DESE investigations into school districts' conduct, and whether DESE's actions after the investigations matched their conclusions.
"This was never about righting a wrong. What happened last fall and culminated last December certainly was a troubling time for our state," Shields said of what perception the public might have of Vandeven coming back after the political times and maneuvers of the Greitens administration, but he added that the choice of Vandeven was "about the ability to continue to move the state forward when it comes to education."
"I really don't hold any grudges at this point," Vandeven said of how her firing affected her personally. "I really do hope that we don't lose sight of the lessons we learned through that process, but I don't want to linger there."
"I would like to return because there is still work to be done," she said, adding when she received notice of her nomination, she was humbled people still had confidence in her.
Vandeven said in the interim between her firing and hiring, she's worked as the director of education partnerships at the Cary, North Carolina, headquarters of the SAS Institute - a multinational analytical software company.
She said she learned about many education issues playing out across the United States - access to early childhood learning opportunities, improving literacy, overcoming mental health issues, school safety and teacher development, "just to name a few."
On Tuesday, Parson said: "Moving forward, we will continue working with Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to focus efforts on ensuring our students have the skills to succeed and meet the demands of tomorrow's workforce."
Vandeven said she has not spoken with Parson since he became governor, but that she had worked with him before, adding, "I have a high level of respect for him."
State law tasks the commissioner and DESE with duties that include advising county and school district officials on education law; making suggestions on subject matter, instruction methods, school government, and the care of school property; and "seek in every way to elevate the standards and efficiency of the instruction given in the public schools of the state. The commissioner shall study and evaluate and test the progress, or lack thereof, in achieving these objectives," and provide the public with free data on the results.
The state's education board sets the specific duties of the commissioner and determines their compensation - which Shields said would remain unchanged, at $191,544.
Before her firing, Vandeven had served since 2015 as the state's sixth education commissioner and second woman in the job - the other being her immediate predecessor, Chris L. Nicastro. Vandeven's career in education began in 1990 as a teacher in O'Fallon, and she served as a teacher and administrator in Missouri and Maryland until 2005, when she began work with DESE.
"With Margie's knowledge and enthusiasm, it is obvious that she will be up to speed in a very short time," said Vic Lenz, vice president of the State Board of Education.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Missouri's former top K-12 education official has been rehired after being fired last year.
The State Board of Education on Tuesday announced Margie Vandeven will once again be education commissioner.
Vandeven was fired last year after former Gov. Eric Greitens stacked the State Board of Education with his appointees, who forced her out. In seeking Vandeven's removal, Greitens did not cite any specific actions she took but said generally that Missouri schools needed to improve.
Vandeven's ouster was criticized by some lawmakers and educators.
But after Greitens resigned in June, new Gov. Mike Parson appointed new board members who relaunched a search to fill the position. Board members unanimously picked Vandeven.
She'll return to the job on Jan. 2.