Gov. Paul LePage temporarily removed his nominee to head the state Department of Education Tuesday, alleging that Democrats were playing games to advance an activist agenda.
A behind-the-scenes battle over how transgender students should be integrated into public schools finally blew up, after Gov. Paul LePage issued a press release announcing that he would temporarily withdraw the name of Dr. Bill Beardsley as his nominee to head the state Department of Education.
Beardsley, a former Husson University president, has served as acting commissioner since last fall.
The ongoing stalemate between the governor and the Legislature is over whether the transgender school policy should be addressed through statute, as LePage wants, or through agency rulemaking, which many lawmakers are calling for. LePage referenced the transgender issue in his statement issued to the media by Press Secretary Adrienne Bennett.
“So the governor does plan to temporarily withdraw the commissioner’s name from this process at this time,” she says. “And that’s because of the political games that Democrats are playing.”
The conflict centers on LePage’s recent blocking of rules recommended by the Maine Human Rights Commission, which offer guidance on how transgender students should be treated in Maine’s public schools. LePage has said he is waiting for the Legislature to act on the issue before he allows implementation of the rules.
Bennett says it’s clear to the administration that the Beardsley vote is being used for political purposes by Democrats on the committee.
“We know that we do not have the vote right now,” she says. “It was going to be along party lines, and that’s something that Democrats really need to take a hard, long look at and decide whether or not they’re doing the right thing. Because we all know that Dr. Beardsley is well qualified for this position.”
Beardsley inserted his personal opinion on the issue of transgender students back in 2010 when he was a Republican candidate for governor during an appearance on the Aroostook Watchmen radio show.
At that time, Beardsley seemed to be expressing concerns over whether a student’s gender identification was being imposed by someone else.
Democratic leaders at the State House refused to comment on Beardsley or on the governor’s decision to temporarily withdraw his nomination as Education Commissioner.
Sen. Rebecca Millett, a South Portland Democrat on the Legislature’s Education Committee, said she was unaware of any predisposed position against Beardsley.
Rep. Victoria Kornfield, a Bangor Democrat and House chair of the panel, refused to answer any questions about the ongoing debate over transgender policy and referred to a written statement.
“Education committee members were ready to have a substantive, transparent discussion on the future of education and the interests of Maine students and their families,” she read from the statement. “They stand prepared to do so for whomever the governor puts forward for this highly important position.”
Beardsley will continue to serve as acting education commissioner for the department, which has not a permanent commissioner since last April.