Prater's nomination for State Board of Education pulled by Kehoe

SBJ file

Dr. Tom Prater was appointed this month to a seat on the Missouri State Board of Education.

Last edited 12:41 p.m., April 25, 2025 [Editor's note: Comment from Gov. Mike Kehoe's office has been added.]

Gov. Mike Kehoe has pulled Mattax Neu Prater Eye Center partner Dr. Tom Prater's Missouri State Board of Education appointment after nominating him for the role last week.

The Missouri Senate's April 24 daily journal, which chronicles proceedings in the chamber, indicates the Senate received a letter from Kehoe prior to its vote on appointees to the State Board of Education. Kehoe's previously announced appointment of former Jordan Valley Community Health Center President and CEO Brooks Miller was approved by the body yesterday.

"I hereby withdraw from your consideration the following appointment: Thomas Prater, independent," Kehoe wrote in the message to the Senate.

Gabby Picard, communications director for Kehoe's office, provided a statement early this afternoon.

"Given the short amount of time left this legislative session and the obstacles presented during Dr. Prater’s confirmation, the governor did not want to ask the Missouri Senate to use valuable floor time on this appointment at the expense of other critical legislation awaiting action," the statement reads. "Gov. Kehoe would not have appointed Dr. Prater to the State Board of Education if he was not confident in his qualifications. We are still reviewing options for this Board seat moving forward."

Prater declined to comment this morning.

In 2024, Prater was appointed to the board by former Gov. Mike Parson, but he told Springfield Business Journal last week that he was never confirmed due to an unrelated filibuster that took place the day of his confirmation hearing. Prater was an interim member through year's end, and he has been sitting in as an audience member this year.

According to reporting by The Missouri Independent, Prater's nomination was pulled after concerns circulated from a national advocacy group and a state senator.

Prater, a Springfield eye surgeon who donated $21,000 to Kehoe’s political action committee last year, was appointed in an interim capacity following the retirement of 33-year board member Peter Herschend. He was reappointed by Kehoe this year alongside three new board members.

But in the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee hearing Wednesday, his selection was singled out by Republican state Sen. Mike Moon.

Moon, a Republican from Ash Grove, said his constituents had complained about Prater’s appointment. He asked Prater about his role in United Springfield, a committee that has donated to candidates on both sides of the aisle in local elections.

Prater said the group didn’t look at political affiliations but asked questions about “education issues.”

Moon told The Independent on Thursday he spoke to Kehoe about his concerns but didn’t want to talk more about Prater or the reasons his nomination was withdrawn.

If the Senate had voted Prater’s nomination down, he would have been banned from serving on the board for life. Instead, the nomination was withdrawn shortly after the Senate convened Thursday and the other education board nominee, Republican Brooks Miller, was confirmed on a voice vote.

The State Board of Education, by law, can’t be dominated by a political party. Prater was nominated as an independent, with the maximum number of Republicans already in office or appointed.

Prater has a history of donating to both Republican and Democratic candidates, with the majority of his contributions benefiting those on the political right.

These donations came under scrutiny from the American Accountability Foundation, a D.C.-based nonprofit committed to the “American First conservative agenda,” according to its social media.

“If you want a pro-tax, anti-voucher, pro-teacher union voice on the State Board of Education, then Tom Prater is your guy,” the organization’s founder, Thomas Jones, said in an email to state officials Wednesday. “But if you want reform-minded conservatives, you’re going to need a new nominee.”

Jones noted Prater’s donations to ActBlue, which received $250 from Prater last year, and donations to local Democrats often below $1,000.

Jones told The Independent Thursday that any donations to blue candidates are “terrible.”

“He shouldn’t be on the board at all,” he said. “He has donated to a bunch of terrible liberals in your state. He is going to be a toxic influence on the Board of Education.”

Missouri-based groups Freedom Principle MO and MO Education Watch celebrated the withdrawal on social media.

“The people won,” MO Education Watch said on X, formerly Twitter.