After 5 Years On Panel, Shimberg Overlooked For New Education Board

EG's Betsy Shimberg said she wasn't surprised when Gov. Chafee announced his nominees to fill the new education board and her name was not on the list. 

"I wasn't appointed by Gov. Chafee, I was appointed by Gov. Carcieri," she said. "I didn't really have a relationship with Gov. Chafee."

Shimberg served on the state Board of Regents for K-12 public schools for five years. The new panel – which will oversee both K-12 public schools and the state's three public higher education schools – is to be made up of nine people. Chafee's nominees include two members of the former higher ed board as well as four members of the former Board of Regents. (To read about all the nominees, click on Jennifer Jordan's story in the Providence Journal here.)

"I really enjoyed serving on the Board of Regents," Shimberg said. "I enjoy public service." 

But, she said, when she was first named to the Board of Regents, she was not working. Now she's working 20 hours a week at Brown University's Swearer Center for Public Service

"I don't know what's next – I care deeply about education," she said. 

There is some disappointment. 

"I just hope that this new board continues to follow the strategic plan," Shimberg said, referring to the 2010 to 2015 plan put together by Commissioner Gist two years ago. 

But, she noted, she knows she has a role to play: "You can have an impact and not be on the board."