Last month, we wrote about how a member of the GOP majority on the State Board of Education was instrumental in handing the board’s vice chairmanship to a Democrat. The deciding vote was unknown and the details were murky. Until now.
The blog PolitiChick is reporting that it was newly elected Chair Marcia Neal (R) who cast the deciding vote for Angelika Schroeder (D) as Vice Chair. Neal’s fellow GOP board members Pam Mazanec, Deb Scheffel, and Steve Durham are finally speaking out and expressing their disappointment in Neal’s decision. Here is what they had to say:
Marcia Neal, SBOE Chair and wolf in sheep’s clothing
“As part of a majority on the Colorado State Board of Education, I fully expected Marcia to join her party colleagues to elect fellow Republican Steve Durham to serve her as Vice Chair. Her decision to instead join the Democrat minority to defeat her fellow Republican was a surprise,” said Mazanec.
Scheffel explained the situation of having a divided majority. “The reality is we didn’t have the votes to get a Republican elected as Vice Chair. We nominated Steve Durham and he got three votes, but we needed four to elect him,” stated Scheffel.
“Her decision was a slap in the face to every credible Republican leader who went out on a limb to support her,” said Durham, referring to the support Neal received from GOP leadership during a heated election cycle. Neal had been struggling with lackluster grassroots support for her campaign due to a perception that she favored Common Core and the excessive high stakes testing that accompany it. The Democrat that Neal supported for Vice Chair is a known supporter of Common Core and its related mandates.”
Neal defended herself by basically saying that her personal political ambitions trumped party loyalty, and she voted for Schroeder to secure her own position on the board. Then she added:
“I only made the choice at the last minute and perhaps it was not a good choice, but having the disrespect of my three fellow Republicans was not conductive to wise decisions,” Neal stated. [Peak emphasis]
As if admitting it wasn’t a thoughtful decision is supposed to make it better? Who knew such a sweet looking old lady could be such an impulsive political animal. Reminds us of that whole wolf in sheep’s clothing thing.