The Missouri National Education Association issued an action alert Friday in advance of this week's debate on the omnibus education bill sponsored by Rep. Scott Dieckhaus, R-Washington. The bill eliminates tenure for Missouri teachers and opens the door for educational vouchers. The text of the action alert is printed below:
ACTION ALERT - HOUSE TO DEBATE OMNIBUS BILL PUTS REAL NEEDS AT RISK BY PUSHING AGENDA OF VOUCHERS, OPEN ENROLLMENT, TENURE REPEAL AND CHARTER EXPANSION
The House is expected to take up HCS/HB 1740 (Scott Dieckhaus) on February 28. The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee approved an HCS version of HB 1740 on February 22 in a contentious executive session.
The HCS:
1) repeals teacher tenure for all new hires and eliminates use of seniority in reduction in force,
2) repeals the minimum teacher salary for teachers with Master's degrees and ten or more years of teaching,
3) contains a tax-credit style voucher for students of unaccredited districts to attend private schools,
4) adds charter school expansion and accountability similar to HCS/HB 1228 (Tishaura Jones),
5) creates statewide virtual district school and virtual charter school open enrollment,
6) includes provisions allowing accredited districts to establish class-size capacity standards with regard to student transfers from unaccredited districts,
7) contains the provisions of HCS/HB 1174 (Mike Lair) to allow the State Board of Education to hold a hearing and act to revise the governance of a school district when it becomes unaccredited, rather than automatically lapsing the district after two years, and
8) contains the provisions of HCS/HB 1043 (Mike Thomson) regarding distribution of school formula funds when the formula is underfunded.
The committee approved the HCS without amendment by a 13-9 vote. Reps. Dieckhaus, Cookson, Bahr, Barnes, Burlison, Cierpiot, Funderburk, Leara, McNary, Neth, Schad, Scharnhorst and Stream voted in favor. Reps. Anders, Aull, Fitzwater, (Tishaura) Jones, Lampe, McNeil, Shively, Swinger and Thomson voted against the bill. Reps. Carter and Frederick were not present for the vote.
The Association strongly opposes the tenure repeal, charter school expansion, virtual school open enrollment and tax credit-style voucher portions of the bill. Legislative action is needed on several issues included in the bill, such as stabilizing formula aid next year, creating fair standards for student transfers from unaccredited districts and allowing prompt intervention by the State Board in support of unaccredited districts and their communities. The Association opposes holding those positive steps hostage to a radical and unworkable agenda.
ACTION NEEDED: Your help is needed! Please call, write or e-mail to urge your state representative to oppose HCS/HB 1740. The following link will connect you to the MNEA Legislative Action Center Action Alert on HCS/HB 1740.
This bill is definitely a step in the right direction! It needs no opposition, only support in ridding our schools of sub-par teachers. There are many other changes that are needed but this will be a great start!
ReplyDeleteDear Representative,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Kelly Dillon. I am a teacher living in your district, and I am very concerned about the education legislation that is up for vote this week in the House.
I'd like to address the question of charter schools' effectiveness in closing the achievement gap. One assumption we have is that charter schools by definition do a better job than traditional public schools of educating low-income students. The idea is that because charter schools sidestep certain bureaucratic challenges facing traditional schools, they become labs for the innovation needed to raise test scores and improve education. Sadly, many politicians and philanthropists have accepted this premise and are actively trying to change state laws across the nation that limit the number of charter schools. This is a bad idea.
The first problem is that research does not show that all charters are successful. While some charters have demonstrated significant improvement in test scores, there are hundreds that close within one or two years of opening for the same reasons as many traditional public schools. Building a charter for the sake of building a charter is an irresponsible use of taxpayer money. Charters should have to prove themselves using private funding before they qualify for public funding.
The second problem, which is more complex, is that school choice in general disrupts and undermines our democratic belief that all children have the right to attend school in their neighborhood. Not only is community-based education necessary for the convenience of working parents but also for their larger democratic purpose. A good neighborhood school brings people together. It instills a sense of ownership and loyalty in students who will, ideally, remain in the community after graduation to bolster its economic and political stability. If we divide a neighborhood's children among a disparate network of charters, we damage the neighborhood. Besides, asking a student to leave his community to go to a "good" school across town sends the message that he and his family and his neighbors are simply not good enough. And, frankly, abandoning an entire neighborhood because it's not good enough is not a good enough reason.
I understand that school choice is attractive because right now community schools are failing a lot of kids. Instead of contributing to the neighborhood, they are destroying it. I get that. However, replacing traditional schools with charters is a band-aid solution to a very complex problem. It is a shortcut. If we give up on traditional public schools, we give up on the very framework of our democracy. I fear the result of doing this will be a disjointed and unstable system that inevitably allows children, especially poor children, to fall through the cracks. If we don't lose students through logistical complications, we will certainly lose them through the inherent selfishness of the private sector mentality. Unlike public schools, charters have the privilege of selecting not only their teachers but their student body as well. In an age of testing and accountability, why would a charter school want to retain students who traditionally don't perform well on tests? Where are students with special needs to go? Where are English language learners to go? Where are homeless students to go? They are liabilities under our current definition of school "effectiveness."
If we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we need to get serious about preserving and improving community-based education. Let's not abandon our public schools just because they are broken but instead strengthen them by strengthening the communities that support them. That is what will turn our education system around. That is what will turn America around.
Please vote no on HB 1740.
Sincerely,
Kelly Dillon