By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A Senate committee is considering a bill that would establish recall elections for school board members in Missouri.
Senate Minority Leader Maida Coleman of St. Louis sponsors the bill; she has tried to pass the legislation in past years without success.
Coleman says allowing school board members to be subject to recall votes should be part of the democratic process.
"The only people who seem to be opposed to recall legislation are school board members," Coleman noted in a legislative hearing on the bill last week.
She also says the bill is not aimed at any particular school board member in St. Louis, despite controversy over the state's decision to take over the city's school district.
Robin Crowzee, President-Elect of the Missouri School Board Association, opposes the bill. Crowzee, who is also a school board member in rural Johnson County, says unless a school board member violates the law or the public's trust, he or she should be allowed to fulfill their term.
The Senate Education committee might vote on the bill this week.