A possible change to Missouri state schools has schools and organizations arguing against the proposed amendment.
Amendment 3 will change the focus of individualized learning in schools to focus more on state mandated standardized testing and teacher evaluation systems. The amendment wants to increase the number of state mandated standardized tests. This action will remove necessary classroom materials in order to fund the tests.
Political Director for the Missouri National Education Association Mark Jones says Amendment 3 will remove the local control school boards have over teacher evaluations. Jones says the amendment creates, “a very one-size-fits-all, top-down mandate run by Jefferson City politicians, rather than as the framers of the constitution intended.”
Macks Creek R-V in Lake of the Ozarks Board of Education recently voiced their opposition to the amendment. The Buffalo Reflex reported that board members voiced concerns about losing local control and the costly addition of more standardized testing.
Director of Legislative Advocacy for the Missouri Council of School Administrators Dr. Mike Lodewegen says the culture of collaboration in classrooms will diminish if Amendment 3 is implemented. He says he feels teachers will adjust their teaching styles to focus on their evaluations and student test scores rather than individualized learning. Dr. Lodewegen says, “No longer is it going to be a collaborative environment where we’re going to be able to put our best teachers with the students that need them the most.”
Missouri residents will vote on Amendment 3 in the statewide election on Nov. 4.
