Members Only
Legislation
Legislation
MSTA Action
Click on the PDF icon for a complete copy of the May 21, 2010, FINAL ACTION
Document(s) in pdf format. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat®.
| Budget dominates session but more cuts to come | Charters, open enrollment are non-factors | Bills passed this session | No changes to formula, summer school | Ed. departments to remain separate | School safety measure finally passes | Parents as Teachers changes due to cuts | Career Ladder survives tight budget |
Ed. departments to remain separate
Voters will not be asked to consider constitutional changes that would merge the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with the Department of Higher Education.
The proposal, contained in SJR44 and 45 (Shields), was proposed as a way to streamline education from early-childhood to post-secondary education. Voters would have had to approve a merger because the state constitution establishes both departments.
The plan would have combined DESE with DHE, and produced a new State Board of Education that would oversee all levels of public education in Missouri. Under the plan approved by the Senate, the new state board would have six members serving six-year terms.
Members of the House of Representatives asked many questions and did not receive the answers necessary to move the proposal forward. The bill never made it out of the House Higher Education Committee.
Committee members became concerned about the duties and powers a new board would have. Many of these would not be defined in the constitution, but in state statutes that would have to be developed upon voter approval. The merger would not have made dramatic changes to K-12 education, but committee members were uneasy about its potential impact to higher education.
Rep. Gayle Kingery, the House Higher Education chairman, announced he intends to send a letter to the speaker of the house requesting the Joint Committee on Education discuss this issue, and make a report available before the next legislative session.