School districts attempt to thwart Amendment 3 proposal

Along with the state and local organizations rallying against Amendment 3 -- a proposed change to the Missouri Constitution that would tie teacher evaluations to student performance -- local school districts are issuing opposing resolutions.

The Cape Girardeau School Board has a resolution opposing it scheduled for a vote at today's 6 p.m. meeting at 301 N. Clark Ave. A closed meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

The Chaffee School Board recently passed a resolution against it as well.

Teachgreat.org, which spearheaded the amendment, is no longer actively campaigning for it. However, the proposed amendment is still on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

Kristin Owen, Southeast Missouri Regional Field director of the Campaign to Protect Our Local Schools, a statewide coalition of organizations against the initiative, spoke to about 10 people Monday, including teachers from the Nell Holcomb School District and members of No On 3, a local not-for-proft group against the amendment.

The gathering took place at the Cape Girardeau Public Library, and after about 15 minutes of explaining the amendment, they went into closed session to discuss strategy. She told attendees to talk to friends and family and take to social media.

Among other things, Owen said Protect Our Local Schools is concerned about teachers and students being viewed as numbers instead of individuals and students having to take more standardized tests, which will be expensive for school districts.

"Real accountability will come from our experienced teachers mentoring others, our principals regularly monitoring classrooms and parents having more input [in] the process. ... We have a system of accountability and it's working," Owen said.

Cape Girardeau superintendent Jim Welker also expressed his concern about the measure.

" ... It could have some very negative impacts on public schools in Missouri. It will take the power and authority away from the local school districts and place it at the state level," Welker said.

"It limits our ability to make decisions about teacher evaluations and how to best help teachers improve," Welker added. "It places too much emphasis on state-mandated standardized tests, which are given once a year. And, the cost of implementation would be devastating. In addition, if this passes, it is irreversible since it is a constitutional amendment. There will be no avenue to adjust or make changes. It will have a permanent and very harmful impact on local schools."

The Missouri School Boards' Association has been sending a sample resolution against Amendment 3 to school boards interested in passing one. Brent Ghan, chief communications officer for MSBA, said the resolutions can be modified.

Ghan said requests for the resolutions has been heavy, with about 75 passed so far. Missouri has about 520 school districts. Ghan said districts are asked to notify MSBA when they pass the resolutions.

"And we're expecting many more as boards meet in the rest of September and into October," Ghan said. "These are boards all over the state -- every size and location around. They're coming in daily."

He added that very few school board members around Missouri think the amendment is a good idea.

"It really takes a lot of local decision-making away when it comes to teacher evaluations," Ghan said. "School boards tend to bristle at that and would rather have flexibility in making decisions regarding teacher evaluations and teacher performance."

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has left the form and structure of teacher evaluations up to school districts, provided they use the principles provided by the agency.

Amendment 3 asks if the state Constitution should be amended to:

• Require teachers to be evaluated by a standards-based performance system for which each local school district must receive state approval to continue receiving state and local funding.
• Require teachers to be dismissed, retained, demoted, promoted and paid primarily using student performance data.
• Require teachers to enter into contracts of three years or fewer with public school districts.
• And prohibit teachers from organizing or collectively bargaining about the design and implementation of the teacher evaluation system.

Decisions by school districts regarding provisions allowed or required by this proposal and their implementation will influence the potential costs or savings affecting each district. Significant potential costs may be incurred by the state or the districts if new or additional evaluation instruments must be developed to satisfy the proposals performance evaluation requirements.

On the same subject, No On 3 is meeting at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday in the Oscar C. Hirsch Room of the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The public is welcome to attend.

For more information, contact David Larson at 573-979-5975 or keepedlocal@gmail.com.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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