CECM and our allies felt the pending legislation left many unanswered questions about the merger. The House Higher Education agreed and decided to not take a vote on the merger during the last week of the session. Instead, the committee will request that the Joint Education Committee study the issue during their interim meetings.

We hope that the interim study will provide details about how the merger would work. We will watch this issue closely during the interim and next legislative session.

These resolutions were put together and rushed through the Missouri State Senate with little study of this massive overhaul of the two state agencies.  Instead of this “ready, fire, aim” approach, the state should seriously review how combining two large bureaucracies into one mega- bureaucracy would affect education for individual children in our state.   These critical questions just scratch the surface of what must be answered before discussion of combining these two departments can move forward:

• How will a merger of DESE with DHE help better provide information to parents about the performance of their public schools?

• How will a merger of DESE and DHE help parents make better decisions regarding college choices, attendance and student financial aid?

• How will a merger of DESE and DHE, which operate in very different worlds, help them perform their separate and distinct missions?

• How will a merger of DESE with DHE redefine adequate funding of our schools and will that lead to a new funding lawsuit against the state?

• And most importantly, how does this merger increase educational achievement for all children, in all grade levels in our state?

Proponents of combining these departments and boards have said that the move will increase efficiency and lead to a seamless system of education in our state.  Given all of the unanswered questions and lack of details on how the new department would operate, I do not see this as the case.  Proponents have also touted the merger as a cost saving measure for our financially strapped state, but the fiscal note on the resolutions said that “the potential fiscal impact is unknown.”

It is clear that these resolutions are a knee- jerk reaction to the state’s budget crunch.  This issue has had little study and review, leaving many questions as to the effect on Missouri’s children unanswered.  To implement such a drastic change to our state’s education structure without answering essential questions would be bad for the children of our state.  Please call your State Representative and ask him or her to oppose merging the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with the Department of Higher Education.

One of the suggestions that is drawing much attention is a proposal to merge the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Testimony in the committee hearing said that the merger could save $1 million. Senator Pearce reported that the committee supports the merger idea. The proposal is likely to save Missouri money, but will also align the government structure with the P-20 council, created in 2006, to focus on student learning from childhood through graduate school.

Other cost saving suggestions that the committee heard was an increase in virtual schools, implementing merit pay systems statewide, cutting money from the Regional Professional Development Centers and only allowing schools to accept 100% of the funding formula calculation. That proposal, according to Senate staff, would save the state $16.5 million.

The “reboot” meetings come on the same day that the Missouri House of Representatives voted to freeze spending on K-12 education. While education spending would remain the same from last year, the vote removes a $105 million increase that was scheduled to go into the phase in of the state’s funding formula. The measure came in the form of an amendment to the state’s budget bill, currently being debated by the full House. Amendment sponsor, Representative Maynard Wallace, told his colleagues that he didn’t want the state to promise schools money, then not give it to them. The state’s deteriorating budget situation has already caused a $43 million reduction in school funding for the remainder of the year.

Last week, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education held a work session for stakeholders to discuss ideas in the applications for the Race to the Top grants. Dr. Nicastro stated in her opening remarks that the application process “must be about developing and implementing an innovative and bold plan for systemic educational reform in Missouri over the next decade.” Governor Jay Nixon also added that the status quo was not acceptable in applying for this program. “Don’t let the urge to protect the status quo, or the fear of change, prevent you from imagining a brilliant future.”

Now that the stage is set for reform, Missourians must make sure that these words translate into action. Our state’s application can be boosted by expanding charter schools to all areas of the state, developing data systems that link student performance with their teachers, and implementing systems, like merit pay, that are able to recruit and retain good teachers and administrators.

Even if Missouri does not win a grant in round one, we will learn valuable information for a round two application from the process. We can learn what reforms were made by grant winners and implement similar reforms prior to a round two application.

With cuts to the state’s budget, including education, likely to come in the near future, it is good to see Missouri taking this step to attempt to deliver as much education money to the children of the state as possible. Now we will see if the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education back up their application for Race to the Top with real reforms.

Note: You can submit your suggestions for Missouri’s Race to the Top application by clicking here!

Enter State Senator Scott Rupp, Republican from the 2nd Senatorial District, covering Lincoln and some of St. Charles County. Senator Rupp had two straight-forward questions for Missouri’s new education chief. The first was to ask about DESE’s progress in the application process for the Race to the Top grants, a federal competitive grant program that was part of the stimulus package passed in Congress. The second was to ask what the legislature could do to help Missouri be more competitive when applying for the grants. Dr. Nicastro’s answers that followed shed a bright light on much of what is wrong with education in Missouri.

Dr. Nicastro informed the committee the DESE would not be applying for the first half of the Race to the Top competition. She cited the number of hours needed to produce a viable application and the short timetable between the final applications being released (October) and the deadline for the application (December). She also lamented the fact that select states have had a head start in creating applications due to help from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The fact that DESE would be sitting out the first half of a competition for a piece of almost $4.5 billion did not sit well with Senator Rupp, and rightfully so. In this competition all 50 states are starting from the same starting gate. The difference is that other states have been proactive in compiling the necessary information for applications since President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the program on July 24. They have submitted official comments on the program and participated in multiple webinars held by the Department of Education since the announcement, not sat on the sidelines and watched a likely once in a lifetime opportunity pass them by. Furthermore, the Gates Foundation is now going to help any state that wants it with their applications.

Could the real reasoning for this inaction be that DESE knows that Missouri is behind in implementing the education reforms that are called for in order to have a competitive application and lack the desire to see these reforms implemented? One of the main reforms called for by the President and Secretary Duncan is for states to lift caps on charter schools. Missouri currently has geographic caps on where charter schools can be located, only allowing them to open in the St. Louis and Kansas City public school districts.

Senator Rupp specifically referenced these caps when asking Dr. Nicastro what the legislature could do to help Missouri’s application. She dodged commenting in detail on that specific reform but offered another shocking answer to this question. Dr. Nicastro referenced a recent comparison of all 50 states, ranking them on their competitiveness in the Race to the Top competition stating that this assessment labeled Missouri “moderately competitive” and that she was not sure if any legislative changes would be needed.

Since when is “moderately competitive” acceptable for our children? How can Missouri even hope to be awarded any piece of the $4.35 billion in grants if we are sitting out the first half of the competition and are only striving to be “moderately competitive” once we get in the game? What is needed are real reforms that will not only make Missouri competitive in the fight for these funds, but in education achievement in the country and world. These reforms start with lifting caps on charter schools and implementing data tracking that will let us know where our students, and their teachers, stand. That would be a grand addition to DESE’s legislative priorities that they recently presented to the State Board of Education at their September meeting.

Sadly, I don’t see Dr. Nicastro’s “moderately competitive” response as a one- time poor choice of words. It appears to be a continuation of the education establishment’s status quo policies. Missourians understand that our public education isn’t keeping up to remain globally-competitive.  Multiple studies ranking the states on education achievement place Missouri somewhere in the middle of the pack in the nation.  In addition, most studies rank the United States anywhere from 16th to 20th for student achievement among industrialized countries. With globalization of economies and business ever increasing, this places Missouri far down the line to lead the future. This is the achievement that states who strive to be moderately competitive can expect. The time for real education reform and increased expectations is now.