Gov. Rick Perry Friday named Gail Lowe of Lampasas to chair the Texas State Board of Education.

Her term expires on Feb. 1, 2011.

Lowe is co-publisher of the Lampasas Dispatch Record and has served as a trustee for the Lampasas ISD.

She’s a graduate of Louisiana State University.

“Gail has shown exemplary leadership and commitment to the education of young Texans through her work on the State Board of Education for the past seven years, as a classroom volunteer assisting elementary school students with math and reading, and as a member of the Lampasas School District,” Perry said.

“I am confident that through her leadership, we will continue to ensure that Texans receive the educational foundation necessary to be successful in college, the workplace and beyond.”

Lowe replaces Don McLeroy of College Station, whose reappointment Senate Democrats blocked during the session of the Texas Legislature that ended last month.

McLeroy, who’s a Republican and self-described creationist, had been chairman of the board since 2007 and will remain a member.

He has supported requiring students to "evaluate the sufficiency or insufficiency" of natural selection.

Democratic senators said McLeroy has sown division as leader of the board and opened the state to criticism in newspaper editorials.

McLeroy supporters called it a partisan objection that applied a "religious test" for public office.