ST. LOUIS — The House Interim Education Committee announced Wednesday afternoon that they will be touring the state following veto session in late September.
Among the issues Committee chair Rep. Steve Cookson, R-Poplar Bluff, said they hope to address during the six days worth of hearings include early childhood education, working with failing districts, school transfers, educator evaluations and school safety.
Cookson said in a statement that his hope was for the discussion to be all inclusive as the Committee moves forward.
“Our goal with every solution we discuss is to put the needs of students first and to ensure we are giving them the best possible chance to succeed in college and adulthood,” Cookson said. “That means helping our failing and struggling schools, as well as helping our good schools to become even better.”
The Committee’s first meeting was last week where they heard from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and discussed future Committee plans. The next meeting will be the first public hearing in September.
The following hearing dates are from the Committee statements:
Monday, Sept. 23
- 2 p.m. – Public hearing in St. Charles at St. Charles Community College
- 7 p.m. – Public hearing in St. Louis at Webster University
Tuesday, Sept. 24
- 2 p.m. – Public hearing in Cape Girardeau at Southeast Missouri State University
- 7 p.m. – Public hearing in Poplar Bluff at Three Rivers Community College
Wednesday, Sept. 25
- 1 p.m. – Public hearing in Branson at the College of the Ozarks
- 7 p.m. – Public hearing in Joplin at Missouri Southern State University
Monday, Oct. 21
- 3:30 p.m. – Public hearing in Hannibal at Hannibal-LaGrange College
Tuesday, Oct. 22
- 1 p.m. – Public hearing in Maryville at Northwest Missouri State University
- 7 p.m. – Public hearing in Kansas City at a college or university to be determined
Wednesday, Oct. 23
- 1 p.m. – Public hearing in Warrensburg and the University of Central Missouri
- 7 p.m. – Public hearing in Columbia at the University of Missouri
Ashley Jost is no longer with The Missouri Times. She worked as the executive editor for several months, and a reporter before that.
