Introduction
Cheri Pierson Yecke (born 1955) is a conservative author and educator in the United States.
Education
Yecke holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Hawaii, a master's of science degree in teaching from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Virginia.
Career
Yecke served on the Virginia State Board of Education under Governor George Allen (1995–1998) and then was Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Education (1998–2001) and Secretary of Education (2001-2002) under Governor Jim Gilmore. She also served as the Director of Teacher Quality and Public School Choice at the U.S. Department of Education for the Bush administration (2002–2003), during which time she was detailed to the White House as a senior advisor for USA Freedom Corps. Yecke then became the Commissioner of Education for the State of Minnesota for Governor Tim Pawlenty (2003–2004).
As Minnesota's education commissioner, Yecke drew criticism in what was a tumultuous political battle between the newly elected governor and the DFL-controlled Senate. Yecke held her job from January 2003 to May 2004 before being forced out in a party-line vote. She then worked as a senior fellow at the Minnesota-based conservative think tank Center of the American Experiment for education and social policy, but has not been associated with the group since 2005.
Yecke ran as a Republican for Congress in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District before being offered a job in Florida as Gov. Jeb Bush's Chancellor of K-12 Education, a position she took up on October 3, 2005.
Yecke ran for the Florida state education commissioner's chair in 2007, and had been among the list of three finalists being considered. However, it was announced on Oct. 8, 2007, that the position was given to Eric J. Smith, a senior vice president with the New York-based College Board. Having lost her bid for education commissioner, Florida's top public schools job, Yecke resigned as Florida's kindergarten-through-12th-grade chancellor in December 2007.
From 2008 to 2015, Yecke served as Dean of Graduate Programs for Harding University. Harding is a private liberal arts Christian university located in Searcy, Arkansas. Yecke taught courses in leadershoip, constitutional law, and administrative law, and before her retirement she earned a full professorship in history and political science and served as assistant provost for graduate programs. She was considered a contender for president of the university after former President David Burks retired. She is now retired and lives in Searcy, Arkansas, where she is conducting research and working on several upcoming books.
Publications and Presentations
In addition to works published in peer-reviewed journals, she is the author of two books: The War Against Excellence: The Rising Tide of Mediocrity in America’s Middle Schools and Mayhem in the Middle. She has conducted research on such topics as gifted education, middle schools, K-8 schools, and state and national K-12 accountability models.
Her work has been published in national magazines, peer-reviewed journals, and newspapers across the country. She has given over 350 keynote addresses/presentations in over twenty states and remains a sought-after presenter.