Cheri Yecke
Template:Future election candidate Cheri Pierson Yecke, Ph.D. is a politician who has been involved in attempts to teach creationism in science classes.[1] She 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.
Currently, Yecke has announced her run for the Florida state education commissioner's chair.
- ^ Yecke: "every local district should have the freedom to teach creationism if that is what they choose" Minnesota Public Radio, June 9, 2003.