Panel recommends that governor appoint education chiefs

It is the last thing that any of us in education wants, but if the recommendations
of Governor Matt Blunt's Government Review Commission are followed, the heads of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Higher Education will be appointed by the governor. Currently, both positions are selected by commissions whose members are appointed by the governor.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Commission member Charles McClain of Columbia, who made the recommendation, said the move would help give the governor the power to bring about changes in education.
Considering our governor's track record, that is exactly what worries me. I am sure whatever changes he came up with would be designed to help Missouri businesses (and his campaign donors).
The commission's recommendations also included a recommendation to take away the secretary of state's ability to regulate securities and put it under a new agency whose head would be appointed by the governor. Nearly every state has its securities regulated by the secretary of state, an elected official. This change would appear to benefit the governor's pals, but not Missouri taxpayers.
The Post-Dispatch noted that the commission is primarily made up of Republicans who donated more than $100,000 to party candidates during the last election.