Gov. Kim Reynolds’ nominee for director of the Iowa Department of Education was confirmed Tuesday by the Iowa Senate.
McKenzie Snow was first appointed last June. She came from the Virginia Department of Education where she was deputy director. Before that she led a division at the New Hampshire Department of Education overseeing areas including special education and nutrition programs.
Snow’s nomination stirred opposition from Democrats. During the Trump administration Snow served as an education advisor in the White House and K-12 policy director in the U.S. Department of Education under Sec. Betsy DeVos — a staunch proponent of expanding school choice policies.
Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, said it’s the wrong background to lead the department.
“McKenzie Snow has her talents, but they are based in policy,” Donahue said. “She would be a fantastic addition to the Republican staff working on policy right here at the Capitol or even as a lobbyist. But she is way over her head in the Department of Education that is tasked with ensuring that we educate over 500,000 students.”
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said Snow does not have professional experience as a teacher or principal as many past directors have had. He said Iowa educators would have more confidence in the department if the director was a person with direct experience in the field.
“We deserve someone who knows Iowa schools, who has experience in the classroom, who is an advocate for school resources, who communicates effectively and is dedicated to Iowa kids for the long term,” Quirmbach said.
Republicans defended Snow’s resumé and said her experience as an administrator is valuable for a state department head. Sen. Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, said her job is to lead a department not a classroom.
“She’s being hired to administer a department in which over $5 billion in total funds are administered,” Taylor said. “That’s her position. It’s an administrator. She’s not a teacher.”
Snow does not deserve blame, Taylor said, for policies introduced by the governor’s office such as the overhaul of the Area Education Agencies passed and signed into law last month.
“She was a team player and informed us and to some extent advocated for that bill once it was accomplished, but I don’t think she deserves the blame for somebody who doesn’t agree with how the reform was rolled out or what it entailed,” Taylor said. “I think the governor in the end makes the final decisions.”
At a subcommittee hearing held last week — an rare occurrence for a Senate nominee — people with ties to the AEAs said direct experience with special education is a particularly important qualification for the education director now that the department will assume oversight of the special education system throughout the state.
“Ms. Snow has never taught in an Iowa classroom yet she would have control over what professional development schools can access and what AEAs can offer,” said Jessica Roman, who works at the Grant Wood AEA. “She doesn’t have a degree in education or an education related field like a school psychologist or social worker yet she would be named a supervisor of the AEAs.”
But Snow also received endorsements from several education leaders including the president of DMACC, the dean of the University of Iowa College of Education and Ian Roberts, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools — the state largest public school district.
“Not only has she reached out to me, or have I been able to reach out to her, on numerous occasions to have conversations about how do we best meet the needs of students, but I know she has also done the same to a number of other school and district leaders around the state,” Roberts said.
Snow was confirmed on a party-line vote of 34 to 15.
