A Clemson lady who home-schools her children was elected Wednesday to head the state Board of Education in 2009. According to The State, 39-year-old Kristin Maguire narrowly beat out a Columbia man as the war between Gov. Mark Sanford and the General Assembly spilled over into public education.

Maguire, who teaches her four daughters at home, was nominated from the floor during the panel’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The 17-member school board historically votes each December to pick a “chair-elect” a year in advance of when the term is scheduled to begin.

No other state school board in the nation is headed by a person who is a home-school educator, according to National Association of State Boards of Education.

Maguire, 39, defeated Fred F. “Trip” DuBard III’s in a voice vote. DuBard, a businessman who devotes his time raising money for non-profit education foundations, was the preference of a nominating committee. DuBard’s three children attend public schools in Florence. [BILL ROBINSON - The State]

So they had a choice between a man who has three children in public schools and spends most of his time “raising money for non-profit education foundations,” and a woman who serves as Sanford’s personal crony on the board and doesn’t even send her own children to public schools, and they picked Sanford’s shill?

A woman who has absolutely no commitment to public education. A woman who — quite ironically — can’t even spell her own name properly. A woman who, out of 17 possible candidates, is probably the least fit to hold this position.

According to the Anderson Independent-Mail, “Maguire is a member of the advisory board of South Carolina Parents Involved in Education and is also affiliated with South Carolinians for Responsible Government.” They noted that, “both organizations support tax credits and ’scholarships,’ which can be translated to a state voucher system, a diversion of taxpayer funds from public schools to private education, also viewed favorably by Sanford.”

This thing basically boiled down to yet another childish fracas between Sanford and the legislature. The State article pointed out that Maguire “lobbied intensively for legislation that created a statewide charter school system and has voiced support for Sanford allies who want the Legislature to OK financial incentives for parents who send their children to private schools or educate them at home” and that one of Sanford’s chief rivals, Sen. Hugh Leatherman, fiercely backed her opponent.

So I’m inclined to wonder just how deep the state school board is in Sanford’s pocket and what level of disaster this spells for the future of public education in South Carolina, but I think I know the answer.