Lawmaker predicts debate on school reform

One of the state's most vocal legislative advocates for public education was back in the classroom Tuesday.

State Rep. Mike Thomson, Maryville, who worked for 30 years as a teacher, counselor and coach, spent about half an hour reading to local Head Start youngsters and delivering a light-hearted lesson on how lawmakers go about doing their jobs in Jefferson City and Washington.

The visit was tied to Gov. Jay Nixon's announcement declaring October to be Head Start Awareness Month. Established in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson, the federally funded child development program provides academic, social and nutritional services to pre-school-age youngsters from lower-income families.

Administered in Nodaway, Atchison, Holt, Gentry and Worth counties by Community Services Inc., Head Start serves 40 children in Maryville and a total of 188 youngsters at seven centers scattered across the five-county area.

The pun-filled book from which Thomson read, "House Mouse, Senate Mouse" by Peter and Cheryl Barnes, describes a republic made up of mice whose Congress is led by the "squeaker of the House" and the "Senate mousejority leader."

Both lawmakers must work together to pass a new law, proposed by Miss Tuftmouse's second-grade class in "Moussouri," declaring the creation of a national cheese.

Following the storybook session, Thomson spent a few minutes answering questions from the Daily Forum about challenges that will face lawmakers on the education front when the state Legislature begins its new session in January.

Thomson will likely play a major role in upcoming debates on issues pertaining to public school reform and foundation formula funding due to his presence on numerous House education committees, including Education Appropriations and Elementary and Secondary Education.

He also chairs the House panel on higher education and belongs to the joint education committee made up of lawmakers from both the House and Senate.

As has been the case for the past four years, Thomson said funding for education, which includes about $3 billion in basic aid for public schools, will be a central issue for lawmakers, especially if tax revenues remain insufficient to fully fund Missouri's foundation formula — a complex equation used to allocate funds among the state's more than 500 public school districts.

Thomson said the formula is currently underfunded by $250 million, and he expects the gap to widen next year in the absence of significant economic growth.

Also on the horizon for lawmakers are various proposals for education reform, which include calls for linking teacher evaluations to student test scores and the elimination of faculty tenure.

Thomson is lukewarm on tenure — saying that good teachers don't really need it — but dislikes the notion of basing evaluations solely on test results. He said most teachers are "dedicated professional doing the best they can," and that a period of sustained budget reductions is not the time to "poke teachers in the eye."

He added that reduced spending for professional development, access to technology in the classroom and the popular Parents and Teachers program has made it more difficult than ever for teachers to do their jobs, and that educators often receive "way too much blame and not enough credit."

Thomson said many of Missouri public education's perceived failings have grown from problems associated with the sprawling, urban school districts of Kansas City and St. Louis.

The school systems in both cities were unaccredited by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education until Tuesday, when the state Board of Education voted unanimously to restore provisional accreditation to St. Louis.

All of the outstate school districts in northwest Missouri are fully accredited, Thomson said, and 80 percent have achieved "accreditation with distinction."

Thomson also expressed reservations about state funding for privately run charter schools and school vouchers, which he said channel tax dollars away from public schools already facing serious fiscal challenges.

On other topics, Thomson, who is running unopposed for a fourth and final House term, said he is still considering whether or not to seek state Sen. Brad Lager's seat in two years, when Lager will be forced to leave the General Assembly under Missouri's term-limits law.

Thomson said he will probably make a decision on whether or not to run for the 12th District Senate seat within the next six months or so.