Bills tying teacher tenure to student performance and expanding educational options for students with developmental disabilities outside of the public school system, as well as those addressing open enrollment, social promotion, (and) charter school expansion were announced in a news conference today at the Capitol. The group tied its announcement to National School Choice Week, sponsored locally by the Children's Education Council of Missouri.
Rep. Tishaura Jones, D-St. Louis, will sponsor legislation that will allow charter schools to be established outside the St. Louis and Kansas City school districts.
According to a recent DESE study, charter school performance has been mixed, but Jones believes the concept can help students all around the state.
This bill will give superintendents and school boards another tool in their tool box to help their students," Jones said, noting schools could be set up with a specific focus, such as the arts, agriculture or drop-out recovery.
Representative Tishaura Jones may have a great idea for charters, but I see no language in any proposed bill exempting charters from common core standards. Charters focusing on arts, agriculture or drop-out recovery wouldn't seem as if they should be structured to the public school common core mandates, and as schools using public money fall under these mandates, charters would fall under these standards. This is an important issue legislators need to address before expanding charters. I also wonder why legislators are promoting charters to the extent they are when they themselves use a DESE study stating charters have mixed performance.
In the meantime, here are the educational bills currently listed via Homeschool United so you can see additional bills not addressed in today's press conference:
As you are reviewing these bills, ask yourself: Do these bills promote local and parental control AND do they reduce spending?
SB13 - Requires the Joint Committee on Education to oversee a task force on teacher compensation and effectiveness.
Status: Hearing scheduled for 1/26/2011 – Education Committee
SB14 - Requires the State Board of Education to establish criteria for the transfer of students from an unaccredited school district to an accredited district in the same or an adjoining county.
Status: Received its second reading on 1/12/2011 and advanced to the Education Committee
SB20 - Modifies the compulsory attendance age for the St. Louis City School District so that students must attend school from five years of age to eighteen years of age
Status: Received its second reading on 1/12/2011 and advanced to the Education Committee
SB21 - Requires kindergarten attendance at the start of the school year for children who turn age five at any time during the calendar year
Status: Received its second reading on 1/12/2011 and advanced to the Education Committee
HJR10 - Proposes a constitutional amendment removing the current ban on providing state funding to educational facilities controlled by religious organizations
Status: Introduced and read on 1/18/2011. Received its second reading on 1/19/2011.
Watch SB13, SB14 and HJR10. They are crucial to teacher compensation, addressing open enrollment issues and advancing Educated Citizenry 2020. HJR10 may also invoke vouchers in Missouri.
SB 129 --- Sponsor: Lembke, Jim
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