Monday, December 11, 2006

Star examines controversy over Whitmore-Smith appointment

Today's Kansas City Star includes an examination of Governor Matt Blunt's controversial appointment of voucher advocate Donayle Whitmore-Smith to the State Board of Education.
It's a surface-only look that does not delve into Ms. Whitmore-Smith's previous statements and writings. As shown in recent posts on The Turner Report, Ms. Whitmore-Smith is not only a proponent of vouchers, but she has shown an animosity toward public schools.
Her only connections to education have been as the leader of groups supporting the use of public money for private schools and as the owner/operator of a failed new-age private school, the Ptah Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Star's approach is the one that is increasingly being taken by news media- get a few quotes from both sides of an issue and don't bother to do any independent research, after all, that might take time and effort.

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