Rep. J. C. Kuessner, D-Eminence, issued the following newsletter to his constituents this week:
Recent statements by the top two budget officials in the Missouri General Assembly have teachers across the state worried that the state will eliminate funding for a program that supplements teacher salaries. Despite the tough tone of these lawmakers, any attempt to cut teacher pay will face stiff opposition in the legislature and is far from certain.
At issue is the Career Ladder program, which is jointly funded by the state and local school districts and provides teachers with extra pay for performing extra work. In a June 15 letter to officials at the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, warned educators that the current state appropriation for the program could be the last.
“It is the intent of the General Assembly that the FY 2010 appropriation for Career Ladder will be the last appropriation made in arrears for this program,” Icet and Nodler wrote. “The General Assembly cannot assure that participants in the Career Ladder Program for the 2009-2010 school year and beyond will be supported by state appropriation, and these potential participants should be notified of these changes.”
Because the state reimburses districts for Career Ladder costs after the fact, the nearly $37.47 million in the current state budget (FY 2010) is for the state’s share of the program during the recently concluded 2008-2009 school year. Funding for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year normally would be provided in the FY 2011 state budget.
Although Icet and Nodler wield significant influence over the state budget process, they are just two of 197 lawmakers and have no authority to state the intent of the General Assembly as they purported to do in their letter to DESE. And strong opposition to their position is already mounting. In an Aug. 13 letter to Icet and Nodler, House Education Committee Chairman Maynard Wallace, R-Thornfield, flatly stated that he won’t support the next state budget if it eliminates Career Ladder.
House Democrats also oppose any reduction in teacher pay. Although one Republican representative and one Republican senator think otherwise, when the next budget process is complete we expect that “the intent of the General Assembly” will be to protect teacher salaries and block any plan to cut them.
Nodler and Icet may not have the authority to speak for the General Assembly , but the General Assembly spoke for itself passing a statute in 1995 saying that Career ladder is to be forward funded not funded not funded in arrears. It appears that this is another legislator that doesn't know or respect the law as Nodler and Icet do.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous 6:40. My own humble opinions, based on their previous statements and actions is that neither Nodler nor Icet respect anyone or anything. They are neo-con idealouges that only care about them selves and the lobbyist buddys that fund their coffers. God help us if either one of them is ever elected to a public office again.
ReplyDeleteI guess people just don't want to hear things that affect themselves and their pocketbooks....I commend Nodler and Icet for bringing this into the open....rather than just waiting for it to happen without anyone suspecting anything...those who disagree would just hide behind something and claim no knowledge of anything...let it be out there and let the debate begin, rather than point fingers because someone pulled back the curtain. If it happens, you can't say you weren't warned and given a chance to speak up....and ask for the gift that has become the 'entitlement.'
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous 9:06AM-Sooooo..... what about the 1995 law which was passed under a Democrat controlled Missouri Legislature? From your planet Nodler and Icet should do...what? PS: learn to spell.
ReplyDeleteI can only conclude that someone doesn't think teachers have pocketbooks or that pay cuts will have any effect on them.
ReplyDeleteTo them I say, you get what you pay for and alternatively, if you pay for nothing you're going to get nothing. Strange how they always apply these precepts to people other than themselves.
And the 857 state employees who have been cut during this downturn theytoo, have pocketbooks and famlies and obligations. There are people other than teachers who have been suffering. At least they have a job. Career Ladder funding or job in your school district? Where do you come down?
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