Jane Cunningham anti-teacher tenure bill up for committee vote Wednesday

A committee vote may be taken Wednesday on Senate Bill 372, sponsored by Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, which would eliminate tenure for Missouri teachers and base most of their pay on standardized test scores.

The bill is not in the Senate's Education Committee, but in the General Laws Committee, which as Mrs. Cunningham as its chairman.

Missouri NEA issued an action alert Monday, encouraging its members to contact their senators and let them know their opposition to the bill:

Teachers need an effective voice in their schools. Teacher tenure is just a process to address issues of concern and ensure teachers are not fired arbitrarily. Instead of repealing tenure, Missouri NEA supports a requirement that districts establish a strong and effective evaluation system, as contained in SB 391 filed by Sen. Brad Lager.

In SB 372, Mrs. Cunningham asks for the following:


-The abolition of tenure, to be replaced by "continuing contracts," which can be two,three, or four years, depending on how well teachers' students perform on standardized tests.

-Abolition of minimum salaries for veteran teachers or those who have earned master's degrees

-Performance pay would become effective in 2013

-Teachers cannot campaign for school board candidates in their district. (It should be noted that Mrs. Cunningham was a one-term member of the Ladue Board of Education and lost her re-election bid after she ticked off school officials, teachers, and students, with her attempts to push a religious organization.)

-All teachers who have already earned tenure lose it as of 2012 and become probationary teachers once again.