Breaking News: Missouri Education Commissioner Retiring

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1. khomfeld says:

   September 16, 2014 at 2:30 am

   I received the following email 9/15/14—according to this she “plans to serve through the end of December.”

   From: communications@dese.mo.gov
   To: dese-bulletin@lists.mo.gov
   Subject: News Release: Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro Announces Retirement
   Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:00:33 +0000

   DESE Communications
   9/15/14
   To: dese-bulletin@lists.mo.gov
   communications@dese.mo.gov
   The Department has issued the following news release:

   <http://goo.gl/tFGe5S

   Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro Announces Retirement
   Plans to serve through the end of December

   Today, Commissioner of Education Chris L. Nicastro announced her plans to retire at the end of 2014. The commissioner has served since 2009 and is the fifth person to serve in the position.

   “The State Board of Education is grateful for her years of service to education, but even more important is the better life she has worked to achieve for hundreds of thousands of Missouri's students,” said Peter Herschend, president of the State Board of Education. “Most of those children will never know Chris Nicastro. But those of us involved in this business of education know, and we are all appreciative of her tireless service.”

   During her tenure, the State Board of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education launched Top 10 by 20, a major improvement effort that aims for student achievement in Missouri to rank among the top 10 states by 2020. Top 10 by 20 work has focused on three primary goals: to ensure that all students graduate from high school ready for college and career; to ensure that all Missouri children enter kindergarten ready for success in school; and to ensure that Missouri has a system in place that prepares, develops and supports effective teachers and leaders. A fourth goal, tied to the first three, has been to improve Department efficiency and operational effectiveness.

   Under these goals, the State Board of Education and the Department have developed and implemented new, higher standards for learning, for district classification, for early childhood education and for educator preparation. Under the direction of the State Board, the Department has launched a number of ambitious programs and has instituted a number of systemic changes.

   “I believe strongly that this is the time to take stock, fine-tune programs and practices we’ve put in place, and work closely with stakeholders throughout the State to imbed and implement with fidelity,” said Dr. Nicastro. “This is exactly the right time both personally and professionally for a change in leadership. I will work closely with the State Board and the team to ensure a smooth transition and will be available in the coming months and years as necessary. I will always be a relentless public education advocate in whatever role the future holds.”

   Dr. Nicastro has been a teacher and administrator in Missouri public schools for nearly four decades. Dr. Nicastro and her husband live in St. Louis, where all three of their children and 8 grandchildren also reside.

   Thank you,
   Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education | Communications | 573.751.3469 | dese.mo.gov

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2. joe prichard says:

   September 16, 2014 at 2:49 pm

   this is gigantic news for Missouri……Nicastro had to be one of the most lurid examples of a person in power devoted to teacher bashing…….fully committed to extensive use of standardized tests……Normandy was taken over by the state after the weird transfer law made their bankruptcy inevitable…..she promptly changed the rules, and dismissed 70 percent of the staff……the state already has things in such a mess that it was a pragmatic decision on her part to walk away and let someone else clean up her mess. She wanted a string of low performing schools under state control, similar to the blunders in Michigan and Florida and New Orleans…..I doubt the state board chooses a successor to follow through……..the greatest thing that could happen in Missouri……the state board has some good people….if they chose Peter Downs to take her place….google him….myths and shams of the reformers, Waiting for Superman, delving into charter school nonsense…..in 2005….he actually stood up for St. Louis teachers who were being subjected to requirements to attend scientology meetings….he was elected to the school board in 2006, and removed by a billionaire before 2008. Peter Downs….probably will not be named her successor….but he should be.

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3. Carol says:

   September 16, 2014 at 4:12 pm

   I’m not sorry to see her go, but fear that her replacement will be worse.

   She should have folded Wellston district into University City district instead of Normandy.

   It would be nice to have an African American heading DESE, but Missouri will probably end up with another white person.

   Mike Jones doesn’t have an education degree, but seems to have a clue about education. What he said from the floor of the education event hosted by “Women’s Voices Raised” at the Ethical Society a few years ago was insightful. One point I remember was that countries that have effective education systems have children and families that are well supported.

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4. joe prichard says:

   September 16, 2014 at 7:25 pm

   I do not blame you for being apprehensive about who will replace Nicastro…..Jones is a person who is not very well liked by the st. Louis post dispatch. The county commissioner Dooley has had him as a major adviser even as he served on the state board of education. He might well have been the person who convinced Nicastro to give slps….30 thousand students provisional accreditation, (not sure they actually had the necessary stats) in 2012…..less than a year before the court upheld the disastrous transfer law which bankrupted Normandy. It he were named commissioner, that would open up a spot on the state board……..still, he would not be a bad choice. Dooley lost the primary to the guy endorsed by the prosecuter who has not seen fit to indict the policeman who shot the unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Peter Downs is very aware of the issues impacting the black community…..this is a link to what he wrote about poverty levels revealed by the standardized tests….http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/school-performance-reviews-mislead/article_614b3d59-78d9-52f3-88b7-8ad674f868f2.html I still have faint hope that he can somehow be considered.

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5. Carol says:

   September 17, 2014 at 3:13 pm

   Interviews with Missourians about the selection of Nicastro’s replacement:
   http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/article_3188c539-437a-566d-a05e-12d8a41ee8e1.html#.VBl5-p30OcQ.twitter

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