Missouri governor picks Kansas City teacher to fill long-vacant seat on state education board 6%
By Annelise Hanshaw63%
7/31/2026, 2:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 10 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Self-Serving Bias, and Negativity Bias, with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 7.7% saturation with 45 hits. Analysis detected 208 faulty-reasoning hits from 587 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 16% and a BS Rank of 6% (25,230 of 26,715 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 94.40% of the article peer group.
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.
It is unclear whether he plans to step down before joining the State Board of Education.
Current state board member Kerry Casey, who is from Chesterfield, was influential in the development of KIPP charter schools in St.
Louis and served on KIPP’s board until her appointment to 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.”
The Independent asked Kehoe’s office whether Schoemehl plans to continue his role on the charter school’s board but has not received a response.
Schoemehl did not return a request for an interview.
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.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.
Speakers
3speakers24%attributed speech444writer words
Selected voice
65%flagged-word coverageMike Kehoe
86 attributed words60% of attributed speech27% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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