Holden pushes school plan

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The House gave initial approval Monday to a measure that supporters say will bring accountability to bad schools.

The voice vote came just hours after Gov. Bob Holden urged lawmakers to pass his proposal.

"We must insist on high standards, not just for students, but also for administrators, teachers and parents," Holden said Monday at a Capitol news conference. "To meet those standards, we must give our schools the resources they need."

The bill still needs final House approval before moving to the Senate.

Members of various teachers' and administrators' groups joined Holden to show their support for his proposals to fully fund education and to hold poor-performing schools accountable. His education funding proposal is expected to come up on the House floor for debate later this week.

Accountability plan

The accountability plan aims at improving schools that have lost full accreditation, have been cited for academic deficiencies or have performed below testing standards in the Missouri Assessment Program. Such schools would have to devise improvement plans or face losing state money.

In addition, teachers and administrators would have to enroll in a mentoring program, take courses toward attaining national certification or become trained as scorers on a statewide assessment test. School personnel who already have met any of those or a few other standards would be exempt.

"We hold students accountable every time they take a test," Holden said. "Expanding teacher and school accountability just makes good sense."

The Missouri National Education Association voiced its support Monday for both plans. The group initially had criticized Holden's plan because it would have withheld pay raises for teachers and administrators in poor-performing schools who didn't meet certain standards. The legislation does not contain that pay-raise penalty.

The proposal "will make a difference in improving instruction in those classrooms," said Greg Jung, president of the Missouri NEA.

Mike Wood of the Missouri State Teachers Association agreed.

"The accountability plan that is out there holds the districts' feet to the fire to make sure that we are providing an adequate education to those students who so dearly need that education," Wood said.

Holden also urged legislators to pass his education funding package. The governor has said the package, combined with a new state lottery game, will raise an additional $175 million to fund elementary and secondary schools.

Education funding bill is HB1877 (Foley); school accountability bill is HB1817 (Franklin).