By R.H. Melton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 3, 1998; Page A01

RICHMOND, Feb. 2—Gov. James S. Gilmore III today removed state Board of Education President Michelle Easton, who had delighted Virginia conservatives with a get-tough approach on school standards and pupil performance.

Gilmore's decision to fill Easton's board seat with Kirk T. Schroder, a member of the Richmond law firm where Gilmore worked last year, astounded several conservative activists, who already were feeling shortchanged by the new Republican governor's Cabinet appointments.

The outspoken Easton -- a Reston lawyer and former teacher appointed by Gov. George Allen in 1994 -- was a favorite of the state GOP's most conservative wing, which has pushed for public support of private schools and home-schooling programs.

But as was the case when he put together a Cabinet and senior staff that contain doctrinaire conservatives, political moderates and even a few centrist Democrats, Gilmore showed an independent streak in filling two seats on the nine-member panel that sets state education policy.

Gilmore aides said the selections of Schroder and Jennifer Byler, a Virginia Beach marketing analyst, reflect Gilmore's determination to emerge from Allen's shadow -- even if it means offending staunch conservatives who have supported him.

Getting rid of Easton also reflected how the usually cautious Gilmore may want to micromanage a bureaucracy unaccustomed to his painstaking management style, analysts said.

They said that the move, along with Gilmore's reluctance to appoint the kind of political partisans that peppered Allen's administration, indicates that Gilmore is determined to use the broad patronage powers of the governor's office to put his stamp on boards and agencies.

The Board of Education elects its own president, but administration officials said Gilmore would personally lobby the panel to choose Schroder for the post.

Gilmore's decision capped more than 48 hours of talks between his aides and Easton, in which, sources said, she was offered a chance to stay on the board, but not as president. Today Easton, who has been a Gilmore supporter, issued an unusually strong denunciation of the governor.

"I am disappointed in this shabby treatment and this effort to politicize this important policy board," Easton said.

Activists long allied with Easton were livid.

"I am extremely disappointed," said Family Foundation lobbyist Robin DeJarnette, crediting Easton as the architect of Virginia's standards of quality and accreditation, which drew national attention to the state and were a hallmark of Allen's administration.

"The phones have been ringing nonstop," said DeJarnette, who had urged Gilmore's office to reappoint Easton. "The governor is going to have to answer. I cannot imagine his explanation."

Four sources familiar with the negotiations described Gilmore as willing to reappoint Easton to the board, but not as president. Easton said Gilmore also insisted that she agree in advance to resign from the board if any major policy dispute arose between them.

The talks began in earnest on Thursday, when Easton met with Gilmore at his state Capitol office here. They picked up the next night in a hall at a Crystal City hotel, where both were attending a gala for a national conservative group.

Gilmore gave Easton a contingent offer of reappointment. But she did not accept Friday night, although she said she indicated her desire to serve.

On Saturday, Easton spoke to Gilmore Chief of Staff M. Boyd Marcus Jr., a longtime GOP activist and tough political infighter known for his strongly held conservative views. Again, Easton did not commit to reappointment under Gilmore's terms. The next day, Easton took her family to church and later called Marcus, who told her that the offer was off the table.

In a statement today, Gilmore said Easton's service had been "commendable," adding that Easton had "spearheaded many of the positive changes that have made Virginia's educational program a model for the nation." Gilmore said his appointees "will search for newer and even better ways to continue moving Virginia's educational system forward."

Easton's ouster "will definitely be troubling for some" conservatives, said J. Brandon Bell II, of Roanoke, a former legislator and board colleague who has supported Easton. "Is there a turn we're taking here? There's an unknown out there."

Bell, DeJarnette and other conservative activists said the firing of Easton was all the more painful because it came as the state board was just beginning its school accreditation program in earnest. Virginia already has in place the broad framework for standards of learning in English, mathematics, science and history, and it is poised for what most education experts say will be the more difficult task of applying those standards to individual schools.

Easton, 47, who has sons ages 11, 15 and 18 who have been educated in public and private schools, served 12 years in the Reagan and Bush administrations and was the first education board member Allen named after taking office four years ago. She was elected board vice president in late 1995 and was unanimously elected by her colleagues to be president two years ago.

A lawyer and former public school teacher, Easton has specialized in issues of interest to conservative women, but education has been her great love. She said her guiding principle in making the new standards a reality was to be "fair first, but have accountability."

Gilmore also replaced board member Rayford L. Harris, of Richmond, with Byler, 39, who has served on several state education panels.

Schroder, Easton's 35-year-old replacement and a specialist in entertainment law, said today that he is "committed to the work the board's already done on standards of learning and other issues."

Schroder, the product of parochial schools and the University of Richmond, is single with no children. He advised Gilmore on education during the post-election transition.

Schroder has solid GOP credentials. He is chairman of the Richmond area Republicans and goes far back with Gilmore, who joined Schroder in the LeClair Ryan law firm here when he stepped down last year as state attorney general.