Cheri Yecke
Encyclopedia
Cheri Yecke is a conservative politician in the United States
. She holds a bachelor's degree
in history from the University of Hawaii
, a master's of science degree in teaching from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Virginia
. Yecke has been involved in attempts to have creationism
taught in science classes.
under Governor George Allen
(1995–1998) and then was Virginia
’s Deputy Secretary of Education (1998–2001) and Secretary of Education (2001-2002] under Governor Jim Gilmore
. She also served as the Director of Teacher Quality and Public School Choice at the U.S. Department of Education for the Bush administration (2002–2003), during which time she was detailed to the White House as a senior advisor for USA Freedom Corps. Yecke then became the Commissioner of Education for the State of Minnesota for Governor Tim Pawlenty
(2003–2004).
As Minnesota's education commissioner, Yecke drew criticism in what was a tumultuous political battle between the newly elected governor and the DFL-controlled Senate. Yecke held her job from January 2003 to May 2004 before being forced out in a party-line vote. She then worked as a senior fellow at the Minnesota
-based conservative think tank
Center of the American Experiment
for education and social policy, but has not been associated with the group since 2005.
Yecke ran as a Republican for Congress in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District before being offered the job in Florida as Gov. Jeb Bush's
Chancellor of K-12 Education, a position she took up on October 3, 2005.
Yecke had previously announced her run for the Florida state education commissioner's chair earlier in 2007, and had been among the list of three finalists being considered. However, it was announced on Oct. 8, 2007, that the position was given to Eric J. Smith, a senior vice president with the New York-based College Board. Having lost her bid for education commissioner, Florida's top public schools job, Yecke resigned as Florida's kindergarten-through-12th-grade chancellor in December 2007.
On April 25, 2008, it was announced that Yecke was named dean of graduate programs for Harding University
. Harding is a private liberal arts Christian university located in Searcy, Arkansas.
proponents called Teach The Controversy
in science curriculum. She cited the pro-intelligent design Santorum Amendment
as supporting her effort. The versions of the Minnesota Science Standards circulated by Yecke contained language used by intelligent design advocates in the Teach The Controversy campaign which casts doubt on evolution
while offering intelligent design as a competing theory. The version that was circulated among the public did not include these revisions.
In her campaign to be Florida's next education commissioner, Yecke has attempted to groom her reputation online. In June 2007, she disputed the accuracy of a 2003 newspaper article which reported her as saying that the Minnesota state education department policy supported schools deciding whether to include intelligent design in science curricula, and hired the Internet accuracy-watchdog service ReputationDefender as her advocate. Wesley R. Elsberry
, marine biologist and critic of intelligent design whose blog The Austringer had referenced the article linking Yecke to the Teach The Controversy
method of promoting intelligent design was contacted by ReputationDefender in June 2007. They requested that he remove a quote from Yecke on the issue of teaching creationism and intelligent design on the grounds that she disputes the quote in the original newspaper article. In considering the request Elsberry has asked for proof that the newspaper article did indeed quote Yecke inaccurately, going so far to contact the original reporter. Readers of blog then provided links to archived recordings of Twin Cities Public Television
broadcasts from 2003 showing Yecke saying that teaching intelligent design was a decision local school districts could undertake and teaching intelligent design is supported by the Santorum Amendment. Elsberry says her statements in these broadcasts are consistent with the quote Yecke disputed and tried to remove in the newspaper article.
were raised by state legislators and the press over Yecke's husband being placed in state jobs soon after Yecke had taken her positions. During her tenure as Minnesota's education commissioner in 2003, Yecke's husband was appointed as a deputy commissioner with the state's economic development agency by Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty during a hiring freeze.
Again, in 2005, this time as the K-12 education chancellor in Florida, Yecke's husband was hired as the deputy secretary of professional regulations by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
(DBPR). This hiring later raised questions by politicians whether his qualifications did not significantly distinguish him from the rest of the qualified candidate pool available in Florida. However, the Florida Department of Education pointed out that "there was 'absolutely' no discussion of a job for her husband" and DBPR secretary Simone Marstiller said that "she was 'taken aback'" by the concerns, "calling his qualifications 'very impressive.'"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She holds a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in history from the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
, a master's of science degree in teaching from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. Yecke has been involved in attempts to have creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
taught in science classes.
Biography
Yecke served on the Virginia State Board of EducationVirginia State Board of Education
The Virginia State Board of Education is an independent board established by the state of Virginia in the United States which helps set state elementary and secondary educational policy, advocates within state government for elementary and secondary education, administers some state educational...
under Governor George Allen
George Allen (U.S. politician)
George Felix Allen is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former NFL head coach George Allen. Allen served Virginia in the state legislature, as the 67th Governor, and in both bodies of the U.S. Congress, winning election to the Senate in 2000...
(1995–1998) and then was Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
’s Deputy Secretary of Education (1998–2001) and Secretary of Education (2001-2002] under Governor Jim Gilmore
Jim Gilmore
James Stuart "Jim" Gilmore III is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia, former 68th Governor of Virginia, and a member of the Republican Party. A native Virginian, Gilmore studied at the University of Virginia, and then served in the U.S. Army as a counterintelligence agent...
. She also served as the Director of Teacher Quality and Public School Choice at the U.S. Department of Education for the Bush administration (2002–2003), during which time she was detailed to the White House as a senior advisor for USA Freedom Corps. Yecke then became the Commissioner of Education for the State of Minnesota for Governor Tim Pawlenty
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
(2003–2004).
As Minnesota's education commissioner, Yecke drew criticism in what was a tumultuous political battle between the newly elected governor and the DFL-controlled Senate. Yecke held her job from January 2003 to May 2004 before being forced out in a party-line vote. She then worked as a senior fellow at the Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
-based conservative think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
Center of the American Experiment
Center of the American Experiment
The Center of the American Experiment is a conservative free market think tank in Minnesota, USA.-Overview:The Center of the American Experiment was founded in 1990. Its founder and President is Michael Pearlstein, a former Reagan appointee. Annette Meeks used to serve as its CEO. It has received...
for education and social policy, but has not been associated with the group since 2005.
Yecke ran as a Republican for Congress in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District before being offered the job in Florida as Gov. Jeb Bush's
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
Chancellor of K-12 Education, a position she took up on October 3, 2005.
Yecke had previously announced her run for the Florida state education commissioner's chair earlier in 2007, and had been among the list of three finalists being considered. However, it was announced on Oct. 8, 2007, that the position was given to Eric J. Smith, a senior vice president with the New York-based College Board. Having lost her bid for education commissioner, Florida's top public schools job, Yecke resigned as Florida's kindergarten-through-12th-grade chancellor in December 2007.
On April 25, 2008, it was announced that Yecke was named dean of graduate programs for Harding University
Harding University
Harding University is located in Searcy, Arkansas, in the United States, about north-east of Little Rock. It is a private liberal arts Christian university associated with the Churches of Christ. The university takes its name from James A...
. Harding is a private liberal arts Christian university located in Searcy, Arkansas.
Intelligent design and Teach The Controversy
In July 2003 during her term as education commissioner, Yecke proposed that the Minnesota Science Standards include a technique favored by intelligent designIntelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
proponents called Teach The Controversy
Teach the Controversy
Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit evolution in United States public high school science courses...
in science curriculum. She cited the pro-intelligent design Santorum Amendment
Santorum Amendment
The Santorum Amendment was an amendment to the 2001 education funding bill which became known as the No Child Left Behind Act, proposed by former Republican United States Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, which promotes the teaching of intelligent design while questioning the academic...
as supporting her effort. The versions of the Minnesota Science Standards circulated by Yecke contained language used by intelligent design advocates in the Teach The Controversy campaign which casts doubt on evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
while offering intelligent design as a competing theory. The version that was circulated among the public did not include these revisions.
In her campaign to be Florida's next education commissioner, Yecke has attempted to groom her reputation online. In June 2007, she disputed the accuracy of a 2003 newspaper article which reported her as saying that the Minnesota state education department policy supported schools deciding whether to include intelligent design in science curricula, and hired the Internet accuracy-watchdog service ReputationDefender as her advocate. Wesley R. Elsberry
Wesley R. Elsberry
Dr. Wesley Royce Elsberry is a marine biologist with an interdisciplinary background in zoology, computer science, and wildlife and fisheries sciences. He has become involved in the creation-evolution controversy.- Biography :...
, marine biologist and critic of intelligent design whose blog The Austringer had referenced the article linking Yecke to the Teach The Controversy
Teach the Controversy
Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit evolution in United States public high school science courses...
method of promoting intelligent design was contacted by ReputationDefender in June 2007. They requested that he remove a quote from Yecke on the issue of teaching creationism and intelligent design on the grounds that she disputes the quote in the original newspaper article. In considering the request Elsberry has asked for proof that the newspaper article did indeed quote Yecke inaccurately, going so far to contact the original reporter. Readers of blog then provided links to archived recordings of Twin Cities Public Television
Twin Cities Public Television
Twin Cities Public Television is a non-profit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two Public Broadcasting Service member Public television stations, KTCA-TV and KTCI-TV...
broadcasts from 2003 showing Yecke saying that teaching intelligent design was a decision local school districts could undertake and teaching intelligent design is supported by the Santorum Amendment. Elsberry says her statements in these broadcasts are consistent with the quote Yecke disputed and tried to remove in the newspaper article.
Allegations of nepotism
Both in Minnesota in 2003 and in Florida in 2005, allegations of nepotismNepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
were raised by state legislators and the press over Yecke's husband being placed in state jobs soon after Yecke had taken her positions. During her tenure as Minnesota's education commissioner in 2003, Yecke's husband was appointed as a deputy commissioner with the state's economic development agency by Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty during a hiring freeze.
Again, in 2005, this time as the K-12 education chancellor in Florida, Yecke's husband was hired as the deputy secretary of professional regulations by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation is the agency of the government of Florida responsible for business and professional regulation.-Organization:*Professional Regulation...
(DBPR). This hiring later raised questions by politicians whether his qualifications did not significantly distinguish him from the rest of the qualified candidate pool available in Florida. However, the Florida Department of Education pointed out that "there was 'absolutely' no discussion of a job for her husband" and DBPR secretary Simone Marstiller said that "she was 'taken aback'" by the concerns, "calling his qualifications 'very impressive.'"