House Prioritizes Education Funding

This week, the House moved to pass another responsible, balanced budget – a promise we have made and continue to keep.  Even in tough economic times we were able to prioritize the state’s responsibilities, especially to our children.

Economists everywhere agree - an educated workforce is what will move our state’s economy forward.  This year we were able to budget a $65 million increase for the Foundation Formula, which provides basic aid to public schools.  All told, we allocated over $3 billion for our public elementary and secondary schools through the Formula.  Furthermore, we also allotted $2.5 million for Teach for America to bring talented, dedicated teachers to our urban areas and another $200,000 will go to the Missouri Charter School Commission.  But education does not end at high school. 

 

To ensure our workforce is prepared for tomorrow’s endeavors, each year we invest significant amounts into our institutions of higher education.  We have a number of campuses across the state, which each have been allocated the following funds:   

 

Community Colleges - $132,467,439

Linn State Technical College - $4,675,115

University of Central Missouri - $53,810,963

Southeast Missouri State University - $44,245,150

Missouri State University - $80,344,961

Lincoln University - $17,704,736

Truman State University - $40,414,289

Northwest Missouri State University - $30,023,979

Missouri Southern State University - $23,171,049

Missouri Western State University - $21,534,608

Harris-Stowe State University - $9,709,803

University of Missouri - $404,027,214

 

In further support of access to higher education, we appropriated a $1 million increase for the Access Missouri Financial Assistance Program and a $2.4 million increase for Bright Flight scholarships.  While the federal government cut military tuition assistance scholarships in the misguided sequestration, we restored those scholarships for Missouri National Guard members.  

 

In the Missouri House, we are committed to make Missouri’s budget live within its means just like all Missourians do every day when we make decisions on our families’ finances.  Education was made our top priority in the state and this balanced budget has now moved to the Senate where it awaits committee hearings and floor debate.

Triple E Agenda - Education

There are a myriad of opinions that are promoted in the halls of our Capitol aimed at bettering the education of our youth.  There can be little debate, however, over the fact that a parent should be informed about the performance of their child’s school. 

Rep. Swan introduced an innovative proposal that the House has already taken up and moved forward in her freshman year.  HB 388 is simple:  each school receives a letter grade just like their child.  Utilizing performance reports that are already published, schools will receive this easy to understand grading system that will allow parents to know how their school stacks up.  As a parent myself, it is no surprise this legislation was quickly adopted and is now in the Senate for their consideration.

Another important piece of legislation that the House has already weighed in on is HB 34, proposed by Rep. Guernsey.  This measure would allow certain school districts, with board approval, to be exempt from prevailing wage requirements on construction and maintenance costs.  Maintaining a quality environment for our children to learn is pivotal in our educational system.  Missouri’s schools should not have to be held hostage to extraordinary labor rates that do not reflect the true wage of their local economic environment.  Just like the other prevailing wage proposal the House has passed, this reform will likewise encourage more projects to be undertaken (because greater funding will be available) along with the creation of more jobs.

I am looking forward to these bills moving forward in the Senate along with continued debate on the host of other education ideas that are being debated at the Capitol. 

Education 1/10/13

As we enter into the First Regular Session of the 97^th General Assembly, some of the most important issues facing us are how we will continue to provide appropriate levels of funding for our schools, properly evaluate teacher performance to make sure our children are receiving the best possible education our tax dollars can provide, placing more emphasis on local control, and encouraging parental involvement.

As I am sure you are aware, last year’s budget request from our Governor called for over $100 million in cuts to higher education. Your Republican majority rejected this cut. Making it more difficult to get an education and/or reducing the quality of education we can provide makes no sense at any time - especially when we are trying to bring high quality, high paying jobs to Missouri and provide an educated workforce to fill those positions. I can assure you, any attempt by our Governor to reduce funding for education in order to pay for his attempts to expand entitlement programs will be thwarted. We need good paying jobs and the knowledge provided by education to fill these positions.

In lockstep with providing a proper education is making sure we have quality teachers able to produce results in the classroom regardless of the obstacles they must overcome. We all know education is the key to a brighter future and taking steps to ensure quality teachers are in our classrooms is a must in the coming months.

Another aspect of improving our education system is enhancing local control within our communities. With such diversity throughout Missouri communities, a single set of educational guidelines will likely not address the needs of every community in Missouri. Increasing local control will help solve this issue and provide educational standards appropriate for the needs of your community.

As always, one of the keys to a child’s educational success is parental involvement. The lack of parental involvement has increasingly become a problem and indeed is a hindrance to our children receiving the best possible education our schools can offer. We must take responsibility as parents to ensure our children are engaged in schoolwork. Just dropping them off at school does not ensure they are learning. We are resolved to find ways to help encourage parental involvement to assist our schools in providing the education our children need.