School board opposes Amendment 3

Essentially asking voters to just vote "No," the Jefferson City Board of Education waded into the Amendment 3 debate on Monday by unanimously approving a resolution opposing it.

Missouri voters will be asked Nov. 4 if they want to amend the Missouri Constitution.

If passed, Amendment 3 would require teachers to be dismissed, retained, demoted, promoted and paid primarily using an evaluation system based on student performance data. It also would require local districts to use a standards-based performance evaluation system if they want to continue to receive state and local funding. In addition, the amendment would limit teacher contracts to three years or fewer and it would prohibit teachers from organizing or collectively bargain on certain issues.

"I just think it's important for our district, and public education as a whole, that we make this resolution," Board President Dennis Nickelson said.

The board's resolution called Amendment 3 a "state mandate that shifts local control for educational decisions away from parents, teachers, administrators and school boards."

It also referred to Amendment 3 as a "poorly drafted and deeply flawed proposal that has many unintended consequences for teachers."

And it included the criticism that it would force taxpayers to pay for additional standardized exams at a time when the public schools were underfunded.

The resolution was approved at a work session. Nickelson told his colleagues he felt the resolution would have a greater impact with voters if it was passed this week, rather than waiting until the board's Oct. 13 meeting.

After approving it, the board closed the meeting in order to meet with representatives from the Jefferson City Police Department. Three officers attended Monday's work session to share the results of a school safety audit they have been working on for months.

Under state statute, school bodies are permitted to meet in closed sessions to discuss security systems.

In other business, Superintendent Brian Mitchell told the board that a leadership committee has been working to gather information on the pros and cons of school uniforms. That committee's work will be shared in November, he said.

"They are not coming with recommendations, but information," Mitchell said.