TEACHERS DEBATE EDUCATION ISSUES

The Missouri State Teachers Association will hold open meetings today to determine how area educators want delegates to vote on issues during a state convention in November.

More than 100 Community Teachers Association officers and their delegates will attend the Cape Girardeau meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Mississippi room of Drury Lodge. The meeting is sponsored by the MSTA's southeast district.

MSTA members and delegates may attend the meeting, but only delegates will actively participate. Members will debate constitutional issues, amendments and resolutions regarding education in Missouri schools, said southeast district coordinator Sheryl Smith. The delegates, who represent the 75 school districts in the district, will then vote to determine how the schools will be represented at the state level, she said.

Issues "are not approved at this time but they are discussed," she said. "They'll actually vote on them in November. The body as a whole will look at the position that we've taken in the past and decide whether they want to change those positions."

Smith said candidates hoping to be elected as officers at the state level also will attend. Members get a chance to hear from them before making voting decisions in November, she said. No one from the southeast district is campaigning for a state office.

One of the issues that is expected to be addressed during the hearings will be the Missouri Assessments Program, Smith said. MAP is a performance-based testing system being developed to assess what students know and whether they know how to apply what they learn. All public schools are required to administer the math portion of the MAP system this year. Other tests, including science, communication arts, social sciences and physical education, are being developed and should be implemented by 2002.

Smith said the meetings are held to give local educators a chance to voice their issues before the delegates who represent them. Issues are constantly changing, she said, and the hearings allow local chapters to have an impact on the state organization.

"The possibility of change always exists," Smith said. "This is the opportunity at the grass-roots level for teachers to bring about change in their organization."