State should stop trying to micromanage schools

Michael Broker, Lohman

Dear Editor,

Missouri K-12 public school teachers would face limits on how they talk about race and history under a bill approved Wednesday in the state Senate.

I am amazed at the expanding role our legislators are taking to control the books and lesson plans used by certified teachers in our public schools. This looks like an unmanageable set of rule-making that would require a newly created czar of education, along with a staff of inspectors to prowl about the state schools, or even install cameras in all the classrooms to record everything discussed.

This would then create a new department with an opportunity for a high-level director, who would be appointed from legislators who termed out, or did not get re-elected, as is common in our state government.

I am a former secondary school teacher and a retired state employee. Therefore, I am familiar with the workings of the state as well as the functioning of the public schools. Rules are only as good as their enforcement and control. There is a danger in our legislators trying to usurp too much power and control to micromanage our schools.