Pat Mitchell, the Public Broadcasting Service chief under fire for spending public money on a cartoon show that also featured real-life lesbian parents, will step down when her contract expires in June 2006, the Associated Press reported.
She drew recent criticism from newly appointed U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings for an episode of Postcards From Buster, in which the title character, an animated bunny named Buster, traveled to Vermont.
Mitchell, the non-profit network's fifth president and chief executive officer, also faced significant fundraising challenges.
Although the focus of the 'Sugartime' episode was on farm life and maple sugaring, it featured an actual lesbian couple. Spellings contended that the episode did not fulfill the intent Congress had in mind for programming and said many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles.
Mitchell, 62, who joined PBS in 2000, told PBS managers at its annual meeting that she would not seek a third three-year term when her contract expired in June 2006. In a statement to the media, Mitchell did not refer to the 'Buster' controversy.