Cape lawmaker wants teacher voice on state Board of Education, proposes bill

Missouri teachers would have a voice on the state Board of Education under a bill introduced by a Cape Girardeau lawmaker and backed by teacher organizations.

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford's bill would require the governor to appoint an "active classroom teacher" to the state Board of Education.

"I think it is important to have an active classroom teacher on there," he said.

Wallingford said teachers should be represented on the board because the actions taken by board members "affects the teachers."

He added, "It kind of makes common sense."

The teacher representative would attend all open-session board meetings and participate in deliberations. But that person would have no vote and would not be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum, according to the legislation.

Under the bill, the teacher representative also would be excluded from closed-door meetings of the board.

Wallingford said making the teacher representative a nonvoting member is designed to avoid a possible conflict of interest.

The senator compared the nonvoting provision to that of university boards of regents where student regents participate in board meetings but have no voting power.

Under the bill, the teacher representative would serve four years and subsequent appointments would be made in rotation from each of Missouri's eight congressional districts, starting with the First District and continuing in numerical order.

Wallingford said that provision provides an opportunity over time to have a teacher representative from every area of the state.

Both the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) and the Missouri chapter of the National Education Association (MNEA) have backed the bill.

"The Association supports having the concerns of educators presented in state Board discussions," the MNEA said in an online legislative update last week.

The MSTA has lobbied for such a measure for several years, said Matt Michelson, the organization's government relations manager.

Two years ago, the House passed such a measure, but it didn't pass the Senate, he said.

Michelson said MSTA's support for the bill is not tied to the recent controversy involving the Board of Education.

The state board voted in December to remove Margie Vandeven as Missouri's education commissioner despite the fact that a number of lawmakers including State Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, backed the commissioner.

The action was orchestrated by Gov. Eric Greitens, who appointed a number of new board members. Those board members cast the deciding votes even though they had not been confirmed by the Senate.

Michelson said teachers feel at times that their views are not heard by the board. "It is an opportunity to have their voice heard," he said.

"We would like to have voting power," Michelson said. But he added that even without voting power, teachers would "definitely like having a seat at the table."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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