The State Board of Education adopted a resolution in honor of Greg Kester, 2024 Missouri Teacher of the Year. He was also honored—alongside all regional, semi-finalist, and finalists—during the annual Missouri Teacher of the Year banquet. Missouri NEA sends its heartfelt congratulations to all MNEA Members who were honored:
2024 MO TOY Greg Kester (Potosi MNEA) | |
Finalists
| Semi-finalists
|
Regional teachers of the year | |
|
|
And to all teachers who were honored during this process, we are proud of and grateful for each of you!
To view Greg Kester’s speech from the Missouri Teacher of the Year banquet, follow this link.
Effective June 30, 2024, Dr. Margie Vandeven will be stepping down from her position as Missouri Commissioner of Education. She was In the position for over 7 years
Missouri NEA thanks the commissioner for her partnership for the last 7+ years as commissioner and wishes her well in her next endeavors.
The detailed timeline for hiring the next Missouri Commissioner of Education has not been released at this time.
- Local Control returns to Riverview Gardens & Normandy Schools Collaborative
The State Board voted to dissolve the Joint Executive Governing Board effective June 30, 2024. This removes Joint Executive Governing Board title and approves a full transition back to full local governance for both Riverview Gardens and Normandy Schools Collaborative School Districts.
The current Joint Executive Governing Board members' seats for each district will expire on June 30, 2024, and allow for the placement of community members on the local board via local elections in April 2024. Per statute, applications for seats in each of these districts are open to local community members December 7-December 28, 2023 for the April 2024 election.
The Missouri NEA believes that local control is important for each of Missouri’s many communities (A-15) and congratulates Riverview Gardens and Normandy Schools on regaining their local control status.
Riverview Gardens NEA and Normandy NEA are both Exclusive Representatives in both of these districts; these contracts in each district were bargained successfully under state oversight, which will remain in place with full local governance.
The State Board approved an application submitted for Believe STL Academy In North St. Louis within the St. Louis Public School District boundaries.
Missouri NEA is committed to rigorous learning standards, decentralized and shared decision making, diverse educational offerings, and the removal of restrictive requirements within the public schools. Charter schools serve students and the public interest when they are authorized and held accountable by the locally elected school board (A-6).
The State Board elected to pause its development of the standards to decide on a path that would allow for more local control over the content of the standards.
During this Action Item, the commissioner suggested that the state board and DESE focus more on the desired outcome of the standards—a way to address discipline and behavior in the classroom.
The CORE Skills framework will be housed on DESE’s website for school boards and districts who want to explore implementation within their districts.
Missouri NEA believes in a school’s intentional effort to promote students’ understanding and ability to act with ethical values and principles (B-30).
The State Board approved updates to their legislative priorities for the 2024 Legislative Session. This update included a stronger stance on Voluntary Open Enrollment.
Previously, the State Board’s language in their legislative priorities stated: “that DESE work with stakeholders to examine best practices for voluntary public school open enrollment.” This language has been strengthened to state that they now "support voluntary public school open enrollment."
Missouri NEA believes that open enrollment, like unaccredited district student transfer programs, destroys communities, undermines the stability of local schools, drains resources, and sanctions the recruitment/siphoning of student scholars, athletes, and other curricular and extra-curricular activity participants (A-19).
MNEA believes that every student and educator deserves the best experience possible in schools. That is why we are the only educational organization that is consistently present at every meeting of DESE, the state board of education, and the Missouri Legislature. We are your eyes and ears where decisions are being made about your schools when you cannot be.
The next meeting of the Missouri State Board of Education will be held on December 5, 2023, at DESE in Jefferson City, Missouri. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Samantha Hayes at 800-392-0236 or Samantha.Hayes@mnea.org.
The monthly State Board Report is also available in Podcast form at MNEA Connects. Listen on Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Podbean, or Spotify.