Testing, troubled economy top list of teacher union concerns

Pension problems. Curricula. Standards-based testing.

Southeast Missouri public school teachers have a lot of concerns about the state of education. But none is more pressing than the troubled economy, according to a Cape Girardeau teacher and elected official with the Southeast Region of the Missouri State Teachers Association.

The local organization, among those representing 12 regions in the association, on Tuesday kicked off the fall schedule of regional meetings to help forge policy positions. The union's statewide convention in November will refine the regional resolutions and set policies the teachers association will lobby for or against in the next session of the Missouri Legislature.

"The biggest concern everyone has right now is the economy" because funding affects every element of education, said Becky Ledbetter, president of the Southeast Region. About 100 people turned out for the meeting at Drury Lodge, 74 of whom were union delegates. The Southeast Region includes 75 school districts.

Delegates did not craft any new resolutions to send to the state convention but discussed lingering concerns.

The teachers union will likely fight changes in the pension system, including the effect of a proposed two-tiered system that would mandate new teachers pay more into a system decimated by stock market declines in 2008. The Public School Retirement System of Missouri, considered one of the most generous pensions in the nation, lost $5.3 million in assets. While the pension fund gained back much of that loss last year, the returns fall far short of covering liabilities.

Ledbetter, a librarian and computer lab teacher at Clippard Elementary School, said educators are concerned about the effect the pension changes would have on teacher recruitment.

"What's going to happen to our teaching pool? Will the younger people want to come and join us?" she said.

Testing remains an important topic for the teachers association, which has about 44,000 members and is not affiliated with the National Education Association. Chief among the concerns is the Missouri Assessment Program, the state's test to measure progress in the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The standards-based education reform demands all students be proficient in math and communication arts by 2014.

The teachers association joins critics who say the standards are unrealistic.

"Teachers are concerned standardized testing is beginning to drive the bus, so to speak," said Bruce Moe, deputy executive director of the teachers union.

Despite the challenges, Ledbetter said she's optimistic about the future of public education.

"I think teachers are in their business because they see the future for our country and the potential of each child, and for that reason I'm hopeful," she said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

2880 Hopper Road, Cape Girardeau, MO