Cheri Yecke

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Cheri Pierson Yecke, Ph.D. is an education policy maker. Yecke's career also includes work as an award-winning middle school teacher, author, researcher, and presenter. Her work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Yecke 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; and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Yecke served on the Virginia State Board of Education 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. Dr. 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-May 2004 before being forced out in a party-line vote. She then worked as a senior fellow at the conservative think tank Center of the American Experiment [1] for education and social policy.

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.

The position with the Florida Department of Education serving as K-12 Chancellor of Education started October 3, 2005.

[edit] Controversies

On July, 2003 during her term as education commissioner, Yecke had attempted to propose an amendment that introduces creationism and intelligent design to the school curriculum. The amendment had previously failed when originally proposed by Rick Santorum, R-Pa., for the federal No Child Left Behind law.[2] In addition to this, Yecke also circulated two different versions of the Minnesota Science Standards draft, in which the copy that would be voted on by the committee was revised to contain language that cast doubt on scientific evolution theories while promoting Intelligent Design. The version that was circulated among the public did not include these revisions. Critics have deemed this move as a dishonest attempt to misinform the public in order to sway the committee decision in favor of Intelligent Design using public opinion.

Attempts by conservative Christian special interest groups to introduce creationist and intelligent design concepts into state-mandated school curriculum have generated much controversy, and most attempts were denied or subsequently reversed due to accusations of religious encroachment on what is supposed to be a religion-neutral education system. Other arguments state that religion-based theories have no place in a science-based course.

Currently, Yecke has announced her run for the Florida state education commissioner's chair.[3]