Lead Us into Battle for Academic Development
I still find myself thinking about the Missouri Commissioner of Education’s vague comments following Missouri’s dismal scores on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP). To paraphrase the quotes: The poor scores are an indication that high-quality instruction matters, and we need to continue accelerating post-pandemic learning.
If we are in a hypothetical war with low test scores, Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) actions do not effectively inspire me to charge up the hill. We need our leaders to formulate concrete strategies and implement real changes to improve our education system. For an example, look no further than Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and the Tennessee Commissioner of Education, Penny Schwinn.
Policy is guided by leadership, and Tennessee’s education-focused leadership has instituted free-market policies that would help Missouri students succeed.
Parental rights are paramount in Tennessee. New laws were enacted in 2021 for curriculum transparency and 2022 for protection against inappropriate materials in school libraries and classrooms. Show-Me Institute analysts have advocated for a parental bill of rights in the past, although Missouri failed to commit to this idea in the past legislative session.
Governor Lee has stated that: “We can fund public schools and provide alternate opportunities for children at the same time if we are committed to funding students and not systems.” In early 2022, Lee pledged to add $1 billion to education initiatives, including teacher salary raises (tied to accountability measures), increased funding for 110 statewide charter schools (in Missouri, about 60 charter schools exist and they are located exclusively in St. Louis and Kansas City), learning initiatives (e.g. new phonics program), and career and technical programs. This increased funding was conditioned on changing the state’s 30-year-old funding formula.
This past session, Lee’s pledge was fulfilled, as a bill with the additional money and the changes to the funding formula passed. Tennessee’s education funding is now calculated by student, not by system. Under the new formula, per-pupil expenditures are set at a base level of $6,870, and then additional funding goes toward individual student needs: special education funding, personal tutoring, or helping disadvantaged kids in rural and urban areas, as a few examples. This type of “backpack funding” assists schools that serve students with additional needs, helping districts and teachers. This type of funding system also helps pave the way for the expansion of comprehensive school choice, as parents who choose a new school for their children more easily have their funding follow them to their institution.
The actions of Tennessee’s leaders are generating results. Missouri used to be far ahead of Tennessee in terms of academic achievement. In 2011, Missouri scored about 8 points better on the NAEP in every category. Tennessee is now (as of 2022) four points ahead in 4th-grade mathematics, one point ahead in 4th-grade reading, and tied in both 8th-grade reading and mathematics. Missouri leaders could learn a lot from Tennessee. We need concrete action, not just vague rhetoric about the problems in Missouri education. If something doesn’t change soon, Missouri students will end up getting left further behind.
