COLUMBIA, Mo. — The 53rd Annual Cooperative Conference for School Administrators wrapped up earlier today with final addresses given by Gov. Jay Nixon, budget director Linda Luebbering and DESE Director Chris Nicastro.
The three-day conference is the largest in the state for administrators. The conference’s broad attendance allows it to touch on a number of topics; everything from the most efficient use of student data to MAP testing to seminars on new technological advances in education were featured for educators in attendance.
But no gathering of educators would be complete without numerous — and sometimes ferocious — criticism of the state’s recent budget woes with respect to education funding.
While the state has failed to fully fund its own foundation formula, Republicans in the legislature and Nixon appear almost eager to blame waning funds on one another. During his address to the conference Nixon said that educators were tasked with protecting Missouri’s children from “reckless experiments.”
“We need tough, unyielding advocates for public education,” Nixon told the crowd. “We cannot allow fiscal experiments to divert one penny from public schools.”
Nixon had no trouble using the speech as an opportunity to slam Republicans for what he calls irresponsible tax policy and St. Louis-based mega-donor Rex Sinquefield. Sinquefield, a retired billionaire and philanthropist, has donated tens of millions of dollars over the last decade to expand private school options for public school students. Sinquefield-backed groups like Missouri Club for Growth and GrowMissouri run well-funded smear campaigns against fellow Republicans who rejected 2013’s sweeping tax cut legislation. Nixon said folks like Sinquefield were endangering public education.
Luebbering, Nixon’s budget director, was also dispatched to discuss shrinking funds from the state lottery, and to tell administrators that they didn’t anticipate the lottery meeting it’s mark this year. Luebbering joined Nixon in hammering Republican tax policy, telling the audience that the expected $800 million shortfall in neighboring Kansas was a direct result of the kind of “reckless” tax policies proposed by Missouri Republicans.
But conservative lawmakers don’t tend to take Nixon’s claims lying down. Republican leadership likes to note that the state has increased funds in education for the past several years and that it is Nixon, not Republicans, that withheld funds from public education in the past.
The next battle over education funding will likely come during the special veto session in September. Nixon vetoed 10 bills passed on the final day of the legislative session with created tax cuts or carve outs for several industries and businesses. Nixon called them “giveaways” and hammered Republicans for giving money to special interests over education.
Republicans countered that the bills were updating burdensome and outdated tax collection policies and that growth in Missouri’s economy would drastically improve education. With the two sides firing back and fourth over the best way to fund state services, Missouri’s schools are likely going to be once again caught in the middle.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
