Citizens in Missouri have awakened to the rapid advance of the privatization movement. They have formed an organization called Missouri Public School Advocates to awaken the public and push back against the privatizers.
Missouri Public School Advocates
A Strong Voice for Missouri Public Schools
Calling All Public School Supporters!
The Public Schools are under siege throughout this country.
In Missouri, serious efforts by the State General Assembly to dismantle quality Public School programs date back to the implementation of term limits in 2002 and the large scale change in the membership of that body in 2004.
Learn more about what we do here.
The effort to downsize government and greatly reduce the available resources to fund the Public Schools and the effort to privatize the delivery of education services and erode the strength of the Public Schools is coming from right wing intellectual think tanks, wealthy corporations and individuals, and state legislators who either genuinely believe that the Public Schools are failing or see the delivery of education as a golden opportunity to secure government funding for private enterprise.
Because of these efforts, State Support for the Public Schools is at a low ebb.
Now a group of Distinguished Educators have said, “Enough is enough”. We have formed a non-profit organization entitled MISSOURI PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCATES to unite Public School Supporters throughout the State and make a difference.
We want your help to Stop State efforts to reduce Public School funding and to Stop State action to subsidize private education entrepreneurs. JOIN THE MISSOURI PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCATES AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD.
Missouri Public School Statistics
>In 2010, 8 out of 10 Missouri Public School Districts reduced their number of classroom teachers. There are now 2500 fewer teachers for Missouri kids.
>For the current school year, the State Foundation Formula is $420 million dollars below its statutorily required level.
>Missouri now ranks 46th out of 50 states in average salary for Public School teachers and is more than $10000. per teacher below the national average.
>With regard to State Support of total Public School funding, Missouri is even worse ranking 47th. Missouri pays only 30.6 per cent of K-12 funding while the national average for State Support is 45.5 per cent.
>And in 2011, Missouri sank to 47th in per pupil funding for State Colleges and Universities. The average rate of tuition for Missouri’s four year institutions of higher learning has nearly doubled over the last decade.
How Do I Join Missouri Public School Advocates?
Go to the Missouri Public School Advocates (MPSA) website at mopublic
schooladvocates.org and click on Membership Button. Our current roster of MPSA members is listed online.
Memberships start at just $10.00!
When you become a member of MPSA, you will:
>Ensure that the Public Schools have a strong voice speaking out on their behalf,
>Unite Public School supporters throughout Missouri under an inclusive umbrella, which will provide real policital clout,
>Support candidates for the Missouri General Assembly who are truly Public Education Supporters.
About MPSA
MPSA is completely non-partisan. We are open to anyone who is a supporter of the Public Schools.
We believe the Public School is the Institution that has done the most to make our country great.
This Institution has provided an opportunity for every child to acquire an education and to become a productive and self-supporting human being.
For all inquiries or other communication, please contact us at the information below.
Contact Information
Address:
14373 Conway Meadows Ct. E.
Chesterfield, MO 63017
Email: Gary Sharpe, President
info@mopublic
schooladvocates.org
Phone: 573-230-3388
Please send all correspondance to Gary Sharpe at 14373 Conway Meadows Court E., Chesterfield, Missouri 63017 or info@mopublicschooladvocates.org. Thank you.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Will definitely have to check them out. Thanks for the heads up!
American schools ARE under siege.
Who are the “entitled” privateers who believe that they should be able to make a profit off of children living in poverty?!
Check Tony Bennett’s contributors.
Missouri DESE news release of 3/18/13
Of particular interest are the comments by the state’s commissioner of education and commissioner of higher education, and the list of “endorsements.”
Vol. 47, No. 14
March 18, 2013
Common Core State Standards Garner More Than 400 Endorsements
New learning standards will help prepare students for college and careers
More than 400 school districts, businesses, individuals, and colleges and universities have stepped forward to endorse Missouri’s implementation of the Common Core State Standards for math and English language arts.
The State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards for math and English as part of the Missouri Learning Standards in 2010. The new standards will be in use in all public school districts in the state by fall 2014.
The new standards were developed and adopted by states to define the knowledge and skills all students should know and be able to do to be on track for success in college and careers.
Currently, about one-third of recent high school graduates in Missouri must take remedial classes to prepare for college-level coursework. The new standards, which promote critical thinking and reasoning, align with entry-level college courses. With successful implementation, the Common Core State Standards are expected to drastically reduce the need for remedial classes.
Chris L. Nicastro, commissioner of education, said the standards set a clear roadmap for academic expectations.
“Students will know well ahead of high school graduation what knowledge and skills they will need to be successful, whether they elect to go on to college or other postsecondary training, or join the workforce,” Nicastro said. “The standards are relevant, attainable and based on practical, real-world learning goals.”
Nicastro emphasized that individual school districts will continue to develop their own curricula, and classroom teachers will decide how best to teach to the new standards.
“There is no state-mandated curriculum,” she said.
Having uniform learning goals across the state and nation helps students who transfer to another school district, as well as students from military families who come to Missouri from another state.
The Common Core State Standards will also help make Missouri students competitive in a globally recruited workforce, said David Russell, commissioner of higher education.
“Implementing the Common Core State Standards will lower remediation rates, increase rates of college completion and provide significant savings to students, their families and the state,” Russell said. “The standards are essential if we are to increase the number of Missourians with a college degree, which translates to almost a million more dollars in lifetime earnings for the student and a more robust economy for the state.”
The Common Core State Standards have been endorsed by more than 200 Missouri school districts, 90 individuals, 50 educational organizations, 40 businesses and business organizations, and 35 institutions of higher education. A complete list of endorsements is available at dese.mo.gov/documents/CCSS-Support-lists.pdf.
Missouri educators under siege: New Teacher Evaluation bill failes, so the Speaker “fires” two committee members, and then replaces them and has education bill reconsidered. See this link: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/virginia-young/house-speaker-gets-his-way-teacher-evaluation-bill-revived/article_67a03cfa-7c4c-5c7c-a703-c4c84d95a55f.html
The Missouri House is expected to debate HCS/SS/SCS/SB 125 (Jamilah Nasheed) on May 1.
“TEACHER EVALUATIONS: Each school district must fully implement, and perform at least annually, by the 2014-2015 school year, an evaluation system for teachers and administrators that uses evaluation results for personnel decisions in advance of the next school year. The evaluation system must include formative performance reviews to provide feedback to teachers and must include summative evaluations. If any elements of a local district’s evaluation system conflict with the Department’s ability to comply with the waiver from the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, those items will not be included.
Each district’s evaluation system must be based on certain parameters. Each evaluation system for teachers and administrators must use multiple measures, be centered on growth in student achievement and must be consistent with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education regulations with input from the local district. If a district fails to adopt an evaluation system, the district must use the model evaluation system developed by the Department. Alternatively, a district may choose to adopt the Department’s model evaluation system. If the district chooses to develop its own system, it must develop such system in consultation with teachers, administrators, and parents.
Teachers and administrators must be evaluated using multiple valid measures. For teachers who teach grades and courses subject to annual assessments aligned with state standards, student achievement and student growth on the assessments must count for at least thirty-three percent of the evaluation, using value-added measures developed by the Department. For teachers who do not directly instruct students in subjects and grades subject to assessments aligned with state standards, but who are expected to contribute to student performance on such assessments, growth in student achievement on the assessments will be used as an evaluation measure and will count for a percentage of the evaluation as determined by the district. Student growth must be measured in accordance with value-added methods or models developed by the Department and must reflect at least one year’s worth of growth for a school year or that students otherwise achieved appropriate growth based on expectations derived from at least two years of individual student achievement data.
Multiple additional measures for teachers and administrators must be correlated with impacts on student achievement results, as described in the act.
Teachers and administrators must be given a rating of highly effective, effective, minimally effective, or ineffective that correlates directly to the summative evaluation results. For any permanent teacher who receives a rating of ineffective or minimally effective, the district must provide the teacher with an individualized development plan in consultation with the individual teacher.
Evaluation results must be considered as a significant factor for purposes of retention, promotion, dismissals and other staffing decisions based on performance, including but not limited to incompetency, inefficiency or insubordination, and willful and persistent violation of board policy. Nothing will preclude a district from terminating a probationary teacher when the teacher’s evaluation was completed prior to the teacher having at least six months’ teaching experience in the district. Each teacher and administrator contract and collective bargaining agreement, including option years exercised, must authorize the use of evaluation to inform staffing decisions. The form and content of the evaluation must not be the subject of collective bargaining agreements. In addition, any other contrary provisions of collective bargaining agreements, regulations, or policies will be void.”