FULTON, Mo. - About 100 school administrators, teachers and parents from Central Missouri descended on Fulton Thursday evening to discuss the state of public education.
Nancy Bowles, communications specialist at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the regional meeting was a way for department officials to gather information concerning education.
"We do this every two years," she said. "We want to make sure the public has an input on what's important to them. We're holding nine of these statewide to make sure we hear everyone."
In the ever-shifting educational environment, Bowles added, these meetings are essential to improve.
"The world changes quickly, and we need to keep up with it for the students," she said. "I heard someone at one of these meetings say, 'We're preparing the students for the future even though we don't understand what it holds.'"
The event was formatted to prompt discussion among the participants, Bowles said.
"We split the crowd into small groups at tables all over the room, and there are small discussions for each of the questions," she said.
Margie Vandeven, Missouri commissioner of education, said these meetings are her favorite part of the job.
"This is my favorite kind of thing to do for the job," she said. "I enjoy getting out and talking to people and seeing how we can better support education in this state."
Vandeven said public education is constantly evolving, and preparing today's students for the future requires creative thinking.
"What we've heard is people asking how we are preparing people for success," she said. "The rate of change is quick in the world. The kindergartners of today are the graduating class of 2029. What will life look like in 2029? What are the skills that are necessary for their success?"
Participants were encouraged to share their ideas and respect other people's opinions.
Participant Gary Linnenbringer from Auxvasse is a former member of the school board of the North Callaway School District. As a grandparent, he said he attended Thursday's meeting with personal interest.
Linnenbringer said the current state of public education needs to be localized.
"It's interesting, we have too much bureaucracy and administration and not enough teachers," he said. "It's phenomenal the amount of money we spend on administrators and not on teachers."
The current federal influence on local education, Linnenbringer said, needs to be cut back dramatically.
"Getting the federal government out of the school would help," he said. "Even cutting some of the strings at the state level would help. If you give local control back to the local school districts, you'll get better results."
The opportunity to hold information gathering events, Bowles said, is necessary to provide a quality education.
"We appreciate the public and our educators taking the time to join us for this," she added. "It's a good way to get to know people and make sure students have the best quality education we can provide."
Vandeven said the results from the nine statewide meetings will be released to the public in October.