Cunningham: Turn rural school districts into charters, eliminate teacher tenure

Leave it to Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, to turn a discussion on school funding into another way to eliminate teacher tenure.

During the Education Group discussion as part of the Rebooting Government effort, topics ranged from eliminating summer school subsidies to consolidating school districts in an effort to make tax dollars go further.

Mrs. Cunningham took the discussion in an entirely different direction according to Rudi Keller's article in the Columbia Tribune:

Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, said studies have shown that the “sweet spot” for efficiency in school districts is 7,000 pupils. Of the 522 districts, she noted that only 54 have 4,000 or more.

The issue is not just money, Cunningham said. Only half of Missouri students are testing as proficient in core subjects, she said, and 40 percent of college students need remedial help. She suggested that rural districts could become charter districts, allowing them to escape teacher tenure rules. More flexible attendance rules to overcome district boundaries set decades ago also could help, she said.