Senate Panel Rejects Adair Nomination

The Senate Education Committee today rejected former House Speaker Larry Adair as a member of the State Board of Education on a partisan 7-7 vote.

Adair, Governor Henry's nominee to the board, said he was disappointed.

Democrats supported the nomination and Republicans opposed it.

Adair served as a Democrat in the state House. He is now a bank president in Stilwell. He is a former school teacher and administrator.

"I am very disappointed by today's vote in the Senate Education Committee, particularly the partisan nature of it," Henry said in a statement.

Henry said Adair was more than qualified to serve.

Adair in June was appointed on an interim basis to the State Board of Education.

Republicans who opposed the nomination said Adair blocked reforms they thought were important when he was in the Legislature. They also cited philosophical differences, including a recent vote by the State Board of Education to lower math standards in the state.

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