State Board appointee connected to who's who of voucher movement

Incorporation papers filed Oct. 22, 2004 link new State Board of Education appointee Donayle Whitmore-Smith with a who's who of voucher proponents.
In the papers, filed in connection with the incorporation of the Missouri Coalition for School Choice, Inc, Ms. Whitmore-Smith is listed as the incorporator. The registered agent and corporation chairman is St. Louis attorney Mark D. Mittleman, a maximum contributor to Matt Blunt's 2004 campaign, as well as to the campaign of Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.
Other board members include:

-James Cooper, Ballwin: executive director of Missouri Council for Private Education

-George Henry: superintendent of Catholic education for the Archdiocese of St. Louis

-Rabbi Mark Kalish: executive director of Agudath Israel of America Midwest Region, who is quoted in one newspaper account as saying that whether a candidate supports vouchers ia make-or-break issue (with the rabbi clearly favoring vouchers.

-Edward R. Martin, Jr. St. Louis: former Missouri treasurer for All Children Matter, one of the nation's leading voucher supporters and the organization that poured thousands of dollars into an attack campaign against Claire McCaskill that ultimately helped place Blunt in the governor's mansion (which he still visits from time to time). The governor later appointed Martin to the St. Louis City Election Board.

-Joshua Scheiderer: The address listed for Scheiderer in the incorporation papers, 4500 Little Blue Parkway, Independence, is the address of a combination Christian church and private school.

-David Waterman, St. Louis: Waterman is director of Lutheran Schools in St. Louis.

The secretary of state's records indicate Missouri Coalition for School Choice, Inc., dissolved in January 2006. According to the incorporation papers: "Upon the dissolution of the corporation, the board of directors shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities of the corporation, distribute all the assets of the corporation to Alliance for School Choice of Phoenix, Arizona."

Alliance for School Choice is one of the most powerful pro-voucher groups in the United States.