This week, “Rebooting Government” working groups announced their recommendations for streamlining various programs and departments within the state government. As the Education working group was the first to meet, we were also the first to discuss our findings. While I served as chair, the group came up with recommendations that were presented based on all aspects of education. Our committee received 95 e-mails from citizens from across the state.
Some of the suggestions the Education group received concerned the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and how programs in that department could be best utilized. One suggestion included a thorough examination of the ratio of teachers to school administrators and the ratio of teacher compensation to administrator compensation.
Another recommendation is to merge the departments of DESE and the Department of Higher Education. The two departments were split approximately 30 years ago, but perhaps the usefulness of the separation is past its necessity. The Department of Higher Education is currently conducting an academic review on institutes of higher education by providing a reorganization of higher education degree programs, missions and specializations of each institute. Respondents liked the academic review process.
A recurring theme was to consolidate some school services in order to maximize efficiency. Specifically, transportation costs could be minimized by sharing buses among school districts. Another area in which to increase efficiency is administration. Administration plays an important role in our schools, but if costs could be reduced without reducing service, that would serve districts in a more effective manner.
Another suggestion was to increase monitoring of district funds balances to help avoid excess or unnecessary spending. Offering educators merit-based pay instead of across-the-board increases could help both district coffers and students by validating teachers’ performances.
The final presentation of recommendations from the working groups is available in both audio and PowerPoint version on the Missouri Senate website,www.senate.mo.gov, by clicking on the “Rebooting Government” link or you can directly to www.senate.mo.gov/RebootMO. I encourage everyone to take a look at the recommendations from all the working groups: Courts and Public Safety; General Government and Office of Administration; Retirement and Employee Structure; Social Programs; Tax Structure and Economic Development; and Agriculture, Outdoors, Department of Natural Resources, & Transportation. Don’t hesitate to continue to send in your recommendations using the same link throughout the 2011 legislative session.
As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or 573-751-2272, or by fax at 573-526-7381.
Senator David Pearce serves Bates, Cass, Johnson and Vernon counties in the 31stState Senatorial District.
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