JEFFERSON CITY, Mo- The “Student Transfer” bill in Jefferson City perpetuates the status quo. It does not fix the transfer problem in Normandy. The bill language that is being sent to Governor Nixon allows Francis Howell School District and other receiving districts to choose how much they charge unaccredited districts like Normandy. The FHSD has already publically stated that they will continue to charge 100% of their cost on Normandy students. Therefore, the Normandy bankruptcy scare will continue, and those that want to privatize our public schools will celebrate.
The “Student Transfer” bill was never about transfers, it has always been about money. Corporate entities who want to privatize schools have made a lot of money in other states using public money to run their profit centers called schools. These entities have also raised millions of dollars to use as campaign contributions to legislators who need them to fund their ambitious political desires. This money has tainted the political process when it comes to education. Leading State Senators who have not even graduated from high school to somehow become an expert on how to fix our schools.
The “Student Transfer” bill was never about students, it has always been about votes. The Normandy community and the students of Normandy have the plan to fix their schools; the “Student Transfer” bill is not their plan. The legislators who represent Normandy School district presented those plans to the republican leadership, and when they did not vote for the bill because only remedial portions of those plans were put in the bill the same republican leadership removed those provisions. In fact, just to get votes, the only portions of the bill that are going to the Governor’s desk are portions from people that voted for the bill; not what the students need and not what their classrooms need to become accredited again.
This is what happens when you do not allow educators, but politicians, to create education policy. You get a political solution to an education problem. Educators who know how to fix our issues in St. Louis and Kansas City have the solutions but leaders in the legislator are not listening.
Solutions:
- Community Education/Wrap-Around Services
- Parent Involvement Programs
- Expert Teachers who can Improve Academics and Manage Urban Classrooms
- Positive Behavior Intervention Support
- Universal Early Childhood Education
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