Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
                      HOUSE CONCURRENT
                       RESOLUTION NO. 40
                              103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
                               INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE LOY.
    6636H.01I                                                                JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk


                                              AN ACT
       Relating to accountability of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.


    Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

            WHEREAS, Article IX, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution guarantees public
 2 education and places responsibility with the General Assembly; and
 3
 4          WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education serves as the
 5 state's public education agency, ensuring high-quality learning from early childhood through
 6 high school, preparing students for college and careers, and supporting educators; and
 7
 8          WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's core roles
 9 include, but are not limited to, setting standards, accrediting districts, managing state and
10 federal funds, overseeing teacher certification, providing support services for diverse learners,
11 and administering programs for children with disabilities and early childhood; and
12
13          WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's role has
14 increasingly grown beyond counting students, managing funds, and reporting outcomes. Too
15 many other programs have been added to the Department's responsibilities, which has
16 weakened the mission of elementary and secondary education; and
17
18          WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's growth has
19 not translated into better academic outcomes or safer schools; instead, the growth has diluted
20 the Department's accountability; and
21
HCR 40                                           2

22           WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has become
23   increasingly bureaucratic, program driven, and compliance focused; and
24
25         WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is substituting
26   paperwork and ideology for measurable student success; and
27
28          WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education should exist to
29   provide and administer public education; and
30
31           WHEREAS, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education should not
32   exist to:
33
34          (1) Govern classrooms;
35          (2) Advance social or political agendas not authorized by law;
36          (3) Create new programs without clear legislative guardrails and accountability; and
37          (4) Drown schools in compliance paperwork that pulls resources away from students;
38   and
39
40          WHEREAS, the role of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
41   needs to be limited in order to return its functions to its proper constitutional role:
42
43           NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of
44   Representatives of the One Hundred Third General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the
45   Senate concurring therein, hereby recognize that the Department of Elementary and
46   Secondary Education's role should be narrowed and the Department's effectiveness should be
47   strengthened by clearly defining what the Department should and should not do; and
48
49           BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the General Assembly requests that the
50   Governor clarify the duties of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and
51   authorize the Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and
52   the State Board of Education to do only the following:
53
54           (1) Require the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to act only as
55   provided by the Missouri Constitution;
56
57           (2) Generate a public education scorecard providing clear, simple, transparent data
58   on student counts, graduation rates, academic outcomes, and legally required reports;
HCR 40                                            3

59
60           (3) Operate a lean accreditation system focused on outcomes and academic growth,
61   not politics or pedagogy;
62
63           (4) Efficiently move dollars from those appropriated by the General Assembly based
64   on a clearly defined formula to best impact the academic success of students. In order to
65   prevent fraud and waste, annual performance audits shall be conducted, and such audits shall
66   be clear and concise as to every dollar spent, including where dollars sent to a local
67   educational agency are distributed and the correlation with academic success for each local
68   educational agency; and
69
70           (5) Offer support when schools and parents ask for support; and
71
72          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be sent to the Governor for his
73   approval or rejection pursuant to the Missouri Constitution.
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