Health & Fitness
Interim Education Cmte to Begin First Leg of Statewide Listening Tour Sept. 23
An interim House committee will hit the road at the end of September to receive input from Missouri citizens on ways to improve the state’s system of education. The committee will hold a series of hearings from Sept. 23 – 25 in St. Louis.
The committee expects an overwhelming response from concerned citizens and is taking steps to ensure each hearing is run in a structured and orderly manner. Witnesses will be asked to sign in with an indicated topic of interest they wish to address. Each topic will then be given 15 minutes of discussion that will be divided evenly among individuals who have signed up to testify. The committee may revisit or address new topics at the end of each hearing with any remaining time.
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The hearings will be extremely focused and efficient so that they can engage in a brief but informative dialogue on the major issues facing our system of education. Given the limited time they will have at each stop they will not be able to address each issue at great length, but they will be able to gain a much better understanding of the issues that are of concern to Missourians in each area of the state.
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I think this will be extremely helpful in developing a big picture view of the areas we need to focus on legislatively in the coming session.
The topics the committee plans to discuss are:
- Transfer of Students and a Statewide Plan for Addressing Persistently Low Achieving and Failing School Districts
- Early Childhood Education
- Quality Educator Evaluations and Quality Educator Preparation Programs
- School calendar and increased hours of instruction, remediation and acceleration
- Common Core Standards
- Virtual Schools and Technology in the 21st Century
- School Safety including bullying, harassment, etc.
- Parent-Community-School Relationships and Transparency
- Wrap-Around Services and Community Education
- College Students’ Perspective on High School Experience
The committee is eager to hear from Missourians who are interested in sharing their thoughts on these and other issues that will strengthen the state’s system of education.
The schedule for the tour’s September stops is as follows:
Monday, Sept. 23
- 2 p.m. – Public hearing in St. Charles at St. Charles Community College
- 7 p.m. – Public hearing in St. Louis at St. Louis Community College – Meramec Campus