Missouri governor fills long-vacant teacher seat on state education board

By Annelise Hanshaw, Missouri Independent

Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed a former mayor of St. Louis and a Kansas City math teacher to the State Board of Education Thursday, filling a voting seat representing the 1st Congressional District and an advisory position reserved for a classroom teacher that has been vacant since lawmakers created it eight years ago.

Vince Schoemehl, who served three terms as mayor from 1981 to 1993, will succeed Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge until the expiration of her term in July.

Schoemehl’s career is marked by public service and charitable work, leading a nonprofit called Grand Center Inc. which worked on revitalization of a St. Louis arts district for 14 years.

His experience in education began in 2003, when he joined the St. Louis Public Schools board before resigning in 2005. His time on the board was divisive, with Schoemehl among four members who pushed to consolidate district schools and hire a private management team.

After leaving the school board, Schoemehl helped launch the St. Louis Language Immersion School, a public charter school sponsored by his alma mater, the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He currently serves as treasurer of the school’s board of directors but plans to resign that role to take his position with the state board, a spokesperson with the governor’s office told The Independent.

A similar situation happened in 2021 during the appointment of board member Kerry Casey, who is from Chesterfield. Casey was influential in the development of KIPP charter schools in St. Louis and served on KIPP’s board up until she entered the state board.

The State Board of Education, which oversees the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, has governor-appointed members from each of the state’s eight congressional districts. State law says members may not be “connected, either as an official or as an employee, with any public, private, or denominational school, college or university.”

State law makes an exception for an advisory position lawmakers created in 2018 for “an active classroom teacher.” The role does not have voting authority. 

But the position has remained vacant since it was created. The issue came before the state board last year during its annual retreat.

Westbrooks-Hodge said at the time that it was strange to have the seat vacant for so long.

“I would hope there’s a sense of urgency,” she said to the education department’s then-chief legal counsel.

Educators have volunteered for the role over the years, and teacher advocacy groups have supported filling it.

On Thursday, Kehoe appointed Michael McDonald, a math teacher at Park Hill High School in the Kansas City area, to the position.

“We are proud today to appoint two new members to the State Board of Education, including an active classroom teacher,” Kehoe said in a press release. “Our administration will continue to support and work with the board on efforts to modernize and improve Missouri’s public schools for the benefit of families and communities across our state.”

Since his election in 2024, Kehoe has appointed members to seven of the eight voting member spots on the board. His appointees have moved quickly to consider changes to Missouri’s education policies. 

Schoemehl and McDonald join the board at a critical time. Following the retirement of former Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger in May, the board has begun a nationwide search for the department’s next leader.