CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- The Senate Education Committee has endorsed a proposed bill to drastically reduce the administrative role of Wyoming's top state public schools official.

The panel approved Senate File 104 by unanimous vote Friday in Cheyenne. The bill now goes to the full Senate.

A proposal would remove the Wyoming superintendent of public instruction as head of the state Department of Education. It would create a new director of the agency who would be appointed by the governor.

Superintendent Cindy Hill spoke against the bill, saying the proposal would take away the voice of the people who elected her and replace it with a bureaucrat. Hill's administration of the Education Department has drawn criticism from lawmakers and others.

Supporters say it would help take the political dysfunction out of state education.