County's retired teachers openly oppose Amendment 3
Educators don't believe they've seen the end of effort to pass measure
Members of the Stoddard County Public School Retired Employees Association (PSREA) voted unanimously on Monday, Sept. 22, to pass a resolution voicing their opposition to Amendment 3 as it will appear on the Nov. 4, 2014 ballot.
Amendment 3 has drawn considerable attention in recent months and has met with opposition within each Stoddard County school, several of which also are on board with publicly expressing their disapproval of the proposal.
Educators, both active and retired, say Amendment 3 is misleading in its wording and will take away local control of the schools from parents, teachers, and school districts and "hand it over to Jefferson City politicians."
Efforts to pass Amendment 3 are primarily backed by St. Louis conservative activist billionaire, Rex Sinquefield, a supporter of open enrollment in Missouri schools, charter school expansion, and teacher-tenure reform. Sinquefield has funded a number of other initiatives in the Missouri legislature that promote his philosophies with regard to public education.
In recent weeks, Sinquefield's group behind the ballot measure, Teach Great, contended that they have ceased pursuing the issue, stating that "this was not the right time to deal with this issue."
Missouri educators, however, don't believe the Sinquefield-backed campaign has entirely shut down, with many expressing the belief that the political group will "blitz" the media just prior to the November election in a further attempt to pass the amendment.
"The amendment will still appear on the ballot," explained Tracy Gant, a local retired teacher who serves as president of Stoddard County's Retired School Employee Association. The group, which keeps retired school personnel abreast of all education-based legislature and issues pertaining to teacher retirement, gathered Monday for their regular quarterly meeting in Dexter.
"Rex Sinquefield has spent nearly $2 million on his campaign to pass this amendment, and it's hard to believe that he would give up at this point. I don't think we've heard the last from his campaign to pass this amendment, even though they say they backed off."
Educators argue that Amendment 3, if passed by the voters of Missouri, would limit teacher contracts to no more than three years and prohibit teachers negotiating any classroom evaluation system.
Amendment 3 backers contend that the measure will reward good teachers, support struggling teachers, and make it easier for schools to hire teachers. Both the Missouri National Education Association (NEA) and the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) say the proposal is a "one-size-fits-all" approach to education that would be costly to local districts and would create yet more standardized tests.
The most recent public opposition by PSREA, in the form of a resolution, additionally states, "Whereas Amendment 3 limits actual instruction and learning opportunities as teachers spend more time teaching for testing," and "Whereas Amendment creates another state mandate, yet ignores the financial responsibility of said mandate,"..."for the reasons stated and others, the Stoddard County Public School Retired Employees Association urges all Missourians to vote "no" on Amendment 3.
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