Texas Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy a step closer to retaining post
May 21, 2009
Republican Don McLeroy's nomination as chairman of the State Board of Education was revived Wednesday when a Senate committee finally voted to recommend him to the full Senate.
Written by Terrence Stutz, The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Republican Don McLeroy's nomination as chairman of the State Board of Education was revived Wednesday when a Senate committee finally voted to recommend him to the full Senate.
McLeroy, whose nomination has been held in the Senate Nominations Committee for several weeks because of Democratic opposition, won a 4-2 vote of the panel and will be considered by the full Senate next week – the last week of the current session.
If he does not receive at least a two-thirds vote of the chamber – a minimum 21 of 31 senators – he will lose his chairmanship in June. McLeroy was appointed chairman by Gov. Rick Perry in July 2007, but the appointment did not come up for Senate confirmation until this year.
Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, chairman of the nominations committee, said he decided to move McLeroy's appointment to the full Senate because of indications that he might narrowly win confirmation. Approval would require favorable votes from at least two of the 12 Democrats in the chamber if all senators vote on the nomination.
Four Republicans voted for McLeroy, R-College Station, on Wednesday, while two Democrats voted no.
"It will be awful close," Jackson said after the committee vote. "He does appear to have a better chance now than he had last month. He's been working the membership and has made some progress. We'll find out next week."
Jackson said he stands with the governor in supporting the nomination, noting that McLeroy has been serving as board chairman for nearly two years.
Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, who voted against the nomination, said McLeroy "has demonstrated he is not fit to lead the board of education."
"He has used his position to impose his extreme views on the 4.7 million schoolchildren in Texas. He has tried to revise the curriculum in a way that is inconsistent with scientific standards, and he has obstructed reading standards on a regular basis," Shapleigh said.
At a stormy hearing in April, McLeroy vigorously denied that he tried to push his creationist beliefs – such as that the earth is only 6,000 years old – into textbooks and science curriculum standards for Texas schools.
"I have never pushed religious indoctrination," McLeroy told senators. "I don't see any way that I am trying to impose my religious views on anyone."
Fair Use Notice
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.