MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri public school libraries would face budget cuts if Gov. Matt Blunt's ballot initiative requiring more spending on classroom instruction passes, said a leading education organization spokesman.
Missouri State Teachers Association spokesman Todd Fuller said, "In the initiatives current form, we are opposed to it - reason being we feel like the definition of classroom instruction isn't broad enough and doesn't encompass some of the elements it should."
Fuller said libraries are not included in the federal definition. "Library instruction is just as important when it comes to the idea of classroom instruction and needs to be included," he said.
The ballot initiative requires districts to spend 65 percent of their total budget on classroom instruction. Currently, data reported from the National Center for Education Statistics reported that 112 out of the 524 Missouri school districts meet the benchmark. The initiative would add $272 million for classroom instruction, according to the Gov.'s office.
Rep. Scott Muschany, R-St. Louis said there is not enough spending going towards instructing children. "All the non-instructive expenses are important. The problem we have is that school districts have found them so important that they have lost their focus on what is most important and that is instructional spending," Muschany said.
Rep. Joe Aull, D-Marshall and member of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee said the initiative is a slap in the face to Missouri educators. "I feel like in essence, Gov. Blunt is saying that teachers, administrators, and boards of education don't know how to teach kids and are not making high quality instruction a high priority."
Aull said the bill is unfair to districts particularly to those that meet state accountability program standards such as the Annual School Performance Report and the No Child Left Behind program. "I don't think there is a magic number in how much you should spend. I think the question, are your kids measuring up?" Aull said.
Fuller said the budget specifics made by the state take away local control from districts. "There are lots of school districts that function very differently," he said.
Spokeswoman for the Gov. Blunt, Jessica Robinson said districts are not losing control because in order to become law Missouri voters have to pass the initiative. Further, Robinson said the districts spend the 65 percent of their budget how they see fit. "The definition allows each district to prioritize what it wants to spend under the definition," she said.