Senator David Pearce Elected to Lead Joint Education Committee

JEFFERSON CITY — In the last week of the legislative session, the Joint Committee on Education met to finalize the leadership of the committee for the upcoming year. State Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, was elected by fellow members to serve as chair of the committee. He has also served as the 2010-11 chair, and was the vice chairman for 2011-12.

“It is always an honor to be elected by colleagues to serve,” said Sen. Pearce. “I am always humbled by their confidence in me, and it inspires to me to continue to work for the best interests of education.”

During the time between legislative sessions, called the interim, the Joint Committee on Education will meet to receive reports concerning public schools and higher education institutions, conduct studies of and examine the public school system and various issues relating to it, and make recommendations based on these to the General Assembly regarding needed legislation. The committee consists of seven members of the Senate and seven members of the House.

“The members of this panel are committed to improving the quality of education in our state,” Sen. Pearce said. “We want effective teachers in the classrooms and quality materials for those teachers to utilize. Our children deserve the best we can provide for them.”

The newly elected vice chairman of the committee is Rep. Mike Lair, R-Chillicothe.

“I am honored to serve as vice chairman of this panel. This year, we have been charged with task of creating a funding formula for higher education and I am excited to begin that project,” Rep. Lair said. “We’ve needed to work on this for a long time and it will serve as a challenge to the committee.”

In the coming weeks, the Joint Committee on Education will discuss, among other things, a taskforce that will focus on teacher quality and efficacy, charter school funding, and the higher education funding formula that was affected by the recent passage of House Bill 1731.

To see a complete list of panels on which Sen. Pearce serves, visit www.senate.mo.gov/pearce.