Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2009

State education board's chairwoman resigns

Maguire had been criticized for home-schooling her children

Controversial State Board of Education chairwoman Kristin Maguire has unexpectedly stepped down from her post.

Maguire, who has served on the board since 2000 and has served as chairwoman since January, sent a letter to her 16 board members and Gov. Mark Sanford on Friday, citing her parents’ poor health and the growing needs of her teenage children as the reason for her resignation.

The state board oversees teacher certification, selects textbooks and approves educational standards for the state’s public-school students.

“No one warned me that my children would become teenagers at the same time that my parents have ever greater needs of my time and support,” Maguire, 41, wrote to Sanford, who reappointed her to the board in 2004 and 2008.

“While I have sought to meet everyone’s needs while fulfilling my obligations as your appointee to and chairman of the State Board of Education, as I look to the immediate future I do not see a way to adequately do all of these things.”

Maguire, a Clemson resident who home-schools her four daughters, did not immediately return phone or e-mail messages Monday.

One of the board’s most conservative members, Maguire co-founded a group that encourages abstinence-only education and the teaching of intelligent design in schools. She also is active in politics, serving on the state Republican Party’s executive committee.

Her ascension to chairwoman earlier this year riled critics who questioned whether a mother who chooses to home-school should oversee a board responsible for public elementary and secondary schools.

She is the nation’s only home-schooler to head a public-school state board.

“It sent a bad message to the public,” said Tim Moore, chairman-elect of the board, who will now become chairman. “It’s just not consistent to have the chairman of the state board of education home-schooling their children. If the schools aren’t good enough for her children, how can we expect the public to believe it’s good enough for their children?”

In the months since Maguire became chairwoman, Moore, a former elementary-school principal and football coach, has become convinced of Maguire’s dedication to public schools.

“She had energy, enthusiasm (for the job),” Moore said. “Despite our political and philosophical differences, she had the best interest of the children of South Carolina at heart. The board this year has been very cohesive in its efforts. There’s been a marked change and the board has worked very well together. I have to give her some credit for that. She has not been an ideologue in pushing a certain agenda.”

During her nine-year tenure on the board, Maguire, along with ally Sanford, has backed “school choice” measures, giving tax credits to parents who chose to home-school or send their students to private schools.

But such measures have never gained traction in the General Assembly. Public-school supporters have argued the plans would siphon much-needed dollars away from public schools.

Sanford’s office did not issue a statement Monday but Superintendent of Education Jim Rex did.

“As a board member and as chair, Kristin set a high standard,” Rex said in a prepared statement. “She worked long hours for very little financial compensation, and she exhaustively studied every issue that came before the board. While I didn’t always agree with her views, she always expressed them with conviction. I wish her the best.”

Reach Smith at (803) 771-8658.

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