After 5 Years On Panel, Shimberg Overlooked For New Education Board
EG's Betsy Shimberg says she's not surprised Gov. Chafee didn't nominate her.
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EG's Betsy Shimberg said she wasn't surprised when Gov. Chafee announced his nominees to fill the new education board and her name was not on the list.
"I wasn't appointed by Gov. Chafee, I was appointed by Gov. Carcieri," she said. "I didn't really have a relationship with Gov. Chafee."
Shimberg served on the state Board of Regents for K-12 public schools for five years. The new panel – which will oversee both K-12 public schools and the state's three public higher education schools – is to be made up of nine people. Chafee's nominees include two members of the former higher ed board as well as four members of the former Board of Regents. (To read about all the nominees, click on Jennifer Jordan's story in the Providence Journal here.)
"I really enjoyed serving on the Board of Regents," Shimberg said. "I enjoy public service."
But, she said, when she was first named to the Board of Regents, she was not working. Now she's working 20 hours a week at Brown University's Swearer Center for Public Service
"I don't know what's next – I care deeply about education," she said.
There is some disappointment.
"I just hope that this new board continues to follow the strategic plan," Shimberg said, referring to the 2010 to 2015 plan put together by Commissioner Gist two years ago.
But, she noted, she knows she has a role to play: "You can have an impact and not be on the board."
Bill Pett
5:36 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
Given that the Governor could only appoint nine members and could only include a few from each previous board, failure to appoint Mrs. Shimberg obviously doesn't reflect badly on her or the gov. The real problem is the move to combine the two boards. The bill was muscled through the legislature at the last minute by the leadership with the opportunity for any real public response, let alone proper vetting rank-and-file legislators. It seems quite senseless--there have been significant efforts to improve coordination between the K-12 system and public higher ed, but this can only lead to loss of leadership, particularly for higher ed. And the rationale? Students aren't coming out of high school full prepared--this problem cannot be solved this way. Perhaps this is just smoke and mirrors to mask the fact that the legislature is clueless on education.