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JEFFERSON CITY— The Missouri Senate Educated Citizenry 2020 Committee recently released its final recommendations to create a vision for a better Missouri that strives to support an educated and academically skilled citizenry in the state for the future.
Committee Chair Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, accompanied by Sen. Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis, held a press conference at the State Capitol to announce the committee's recommendations.
Other members of the committee include Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield; Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia; Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence; and Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, D-St. Louis.
During the committee’s meetings over the past two years, it followed these benchmarks: Missouri’s kindergarteners will enter school with the essential skills and knowledge to be successful in their learning; 75 percent of Missouri students in every school district will demonstrate proficiency on the state’s standardized achievement measure, and students will perform at comparable levels to the highest performing industrialized countries on international, standardized measures; and Missouri will increase attainment of postsecondary degrees and credentials to 60 percent for all adults, which will be supported in part by an increase in retention rates in higher education.
Committee members based their recommendations around five major themes:
- Access – Allow all students to the opportunity to attend a fully accredited school, and promote the use of technology in the delivery of education at all levels.
- Accountability – Hold all public schools accountable to high academic standards, provide access to high-quality charter schools to all Missouri students, and promote alternatives to the traditional school day and calendar year.
- Teacher quality – Develop a statewide system for evaluating teacher effectiveness to be used in performance-based and market-driven teacher compensation.
- School readiness – Provide parents and early childhood educators with the information they need to see that all children enter kindergarten on par with their peers, and advance efforts to support voluntary, universal prekindergarten.
- Governance – Require new legislators to attend a seminar on the K-12 foundation formula, require Missouri’s leaders in statewide education governance to hold an annual public meeting to discuss education initiatives and progress toward achieving the 2020 benchmarks, maximize efficient use of school district resources, encourage collaboration between school districts and higher education institutions, and create a state-level education governance system that spans from prekindergarten through postsecondary education.
The committee created its recommendations based on public testimony and presentations from educational professionals. The recommendations provide a starting point for legislators and educational leaders to further examine Missouri’s long-range vision for education.
The Educated Citizenry 2020 Committee, along with the Job Creation 2020 Committee and the Healthy Missourians 2020 Committee, was created by Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, during the 2009 legislative session. The three committees were charged with setting a long-range vision for Missouri in their respective areas and completing their recommendations by Dec. 31, 2010.
To read the final report issued by the Educated Citizenry 2020 Committee, visit www.senate.mo.gov/2020Committees and click on the “Committee Reports and Other Information” link. Final reports from the Job Creation and Healthy Missourians 2020 Committees should appear on this site by the Dec. 31 deadline.
For more information about the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov. To contact the Senate Newsroom, call (573) 751-3824 or e-mail newsroom@senate.mo.gov.
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