Focusing on school issues

It really seemed like school days at the Capitol last week because there were so many activities relating to education issues.
Our office hosted several members of the Missouri State Teachers’ Association (MSTA) who all shared their thoughts with me regarding HB 2040. That piece of legislation, known as the “teacher pay raise bill,” would raise base starting salaries for teachers to $31,000.
Teachers have always struggled with their financial well being, especially during the early years of a career and this would certainly help. Results of the bill as it was introduced, would primarily benefit rural districts because those are the ones who have never had enough revenue to properly reward their teaching staff (or all other employees as well).
As the bill moves through the process, there are pressures being exerted by urban legislators to again move any new monies to their respective districts and it is too early to get a good projection on how it will turn out, or even if it will actually pass during this session.
There were also several administrators and school board members here who were weighing in on HB 2040 and mostly offered guarded support, but they showed concern that it may cause further strain on budgets and local efforts making it difficult to keep small schools operating.
I was fortunate to share “shadowing” activities for Trenton high school students Molly Holeman and Kimby Brown, who spent a day “job shadowing” legislators in Jefferson City. Shadowing was in conjunction with their participation in Missouri Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).
Our Missouri Tiger Football Team and coaching staff were being recognized by the Missouri House of Representatives for their accomplishments of a winning season, including the Cotton Bowl Game and especially for displaying great teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the season. Trenton native, Andy Hill, who is the Tigers’ receiving coach, volunteered to escort Molly and Kimby around the team and each got a team poster with all their personal autographs. I think the young ladies were impressed with the opportunity and I think the players were equally impressed with the young ladies from Trenton.
Chelsey McAfee, another young lady from our area, had occasion to display her award- winning poster in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday. Chelsey is a student at Gilman City R-IV and was recognized for her work by the Missouri Recycling Association.
In addition to all the educational visitors, we had occasion to also work with several Area Agency on Aging (AAA) administrators, along with numerous Silver Haired Legislators.
Becky Flaherty from the Northwest AAA and I were able to arrange for meetings with other rural legislators to help them better understand the partnerships of services and providers that our rural seniors depend on. We’ll keep supporting these issues as we continue through the budgeting process.
You can also contact me at the district at 660-359-3988.