Agenda: August 2025
North Kansas City-NEA Member, Justin Smith, was nominated by MNEA to serve as a representative of MACCE, an Advisory Council of educators established in Missouri Statute (168.015, RSMo). The State Board approved Smith’s nomination at their meeting on August 12 in Sedalia, Missouri.
Missouri NEA is grateful for Smith and all MNEA Representatives’ service and expertise on MACCE. MNEA Members on MACCE also include: Dr. Alexander Tai (CMNEA), Cary Sikes (SNEA), Francine Hill (FH-NEA), Lisa Baldwin (NKC-NEA), and Leah Crawford (KNEA).
The next MACCE Meeting will be on Monday, September 8, in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Missouri Schools for the Severely Disabled School Consolidation
Mark Wheatley, Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Special Education, presented to the State Board for a final vote regarding MSSD’s future. The State Board voted to permanently close 12 MSSD Schools, setting into motion a plan to make MSSD more efficient for the students it serves throughout the state.
MSSD schools that will permanently close are: Briarwood, Citadel, College View, Crowley Ridge, Delmar Cobble, Dogwood Hills, Gateway (Hubert Wheeler), Lakeview Woods, Lillian Schaper, Ozark Hills, Prairie View, and Rolling Meadow.
Update on Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Instructions
Dr. Kyle Kruse, Deputy Commissioner, and Pam Victor, Chief Budget Officer, gave preliminary Fiscal Year 2027 budget instructions and reviewed some anticipated budget requests for the coming year.
During the presentation of the budget, it was revealed that the Office of Administration estimates a $1 billion shortfall in Fiscal Year 2027, and the spending in Fiscal Year 2026 is set to outpace general revenue, and the current trajectory is not sustainable. Due to this update, departments can only request mandatory New Decision Items (NDI) and mandatory supplementals for Fiscal Year 2026, which are limited to items that cannot wait until next year.
The presentation included these items that will be included in the FY27 budget and FY26 supplementals.
“The Missouri NEA believes that equitable and adequate funding is critical to the future of public education in Missouri. The total wealth of the state should be distributed as equitably as possible for the public education of each child in Missouri. State support for public education should be no less than one-third of the state general revenue.” (A-11).
Report on 2024-25 Preliminary Academic Performance
Dr. Lisa Sireno, Assistant Commissioner of Quality Schools, presented the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) preliminary data. While there seemed to be slight increases in Academic Performance in some areas, the general overall trends of the Academic Performance from the MAP results remained stable compared to last year, with no significant increase or decrease in results.
There are two DESE Initiatives that impact the work in this realm: the Grade-Level Equivalence metric for reporting (founded in SB 68, 2025) and the Missouri Assessment Program Success Ready Student Assessments (SRSA) (more below).
“The Missouri NEA recognizes the need for ongoing comprehensive evaluation of student progress. Student learning must be assessed with authentic measures directly linked to the lessons teachers teach and the materials teachers use…” (B-38)
“...The Missouri NEA believes that standardized tests and/or assessments should be used only to improve the quality of education and instruction for students. Assessments should be student-centered and support teaching, learning, and program improvement.
“The Association also believes that assessments should be monitored and audited to ensure that they are bias-free, reliable, valid, and non-duplicative. Procedures allowing each test-taker, educator, and parent to request a post-test review of all questions, scores, and rationale for correct answers should be adopted. The Association further believes that assessments are most reliable and useful when developed, administered, and interpreted by educators in time to facilitate modification of the instructional program” (B-39).
MNEA believes that every student and educator deserves the best experience possible in schools. That is why we are the only educational organization that is consistently present at every meeting of DESE, the state board of education, and the Missouri Legislature. We are your eyes and ears where decisions are being made about your schools.
The next meeting of the Missouri State Board of Education will be held on April 8, 2025, in Jefferson City, Missouri. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Samantha Hayes at 800-392-0236 or Samantha.Hayes@mnea.org.