Higher Education Funding Hearing To Be Held in 31st District

From the desk of Senator David Pearce

In accordance with legislation passed last session, the Joint Committee on Education has been charged with developing a funding formula for Missouri’s public higher education institutions to be presented by Dec. 31, 2013. This year, I have the honor of chairing the Joint Committee on Education, a panel made up of seven senators and seven representatives. One of our goals for this interim is to hear from members of the public and from those involved in higher education to gather information to create a funding formula that will better assist each institution and the Show-Me State’s higher education students and depend less on across-the-board funding.

Three hearings have been scheduled across the state in order to meet with as many people as possible. The first hearing was held in Trenton on the campus of North Central Missouri College. The November hearing will take place at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. However, this month’s meeting will take place on the beautiful campus of Warrensburg’s University of Central Missouri on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

The purpose of the hearings is to hear thoughts and ideas regarding a funding formula for higher education. In the past, funding has often been an across-the-board process, whereby if one institution gets more funding or gets their funding cut, the rest of the institutions are treated the same way. My colleagues and I want to examine the creation of a funding formula that is based more on institution performance compared to each school’s missions and other factors, like student retention. The idea of performance-based funding is developing now across at least 12 states, and seems to be becoming more of the standard.

As with the other hearings, this meeting will be open to the public. In fact, anyone interested in lending their ideas is welcome, as well as those who would like to be more fully informed. If interested in testifying, please contact Stacey Preis, Executive Director of the Joint Committee on Education, at (573) 522-7987.

These hearings are all scheduled to be held from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. In Warrensburg, it will be held in Elliott Union, room 237B. Although the final report is not due to the General Assembly until the end of 2013, some of these ideas may be proposed to use for the upcoming 2013 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.