Freedom Principle MO Calls for Senators Trent and Rowden to Quit Stalling and Bring SB 814 The Education Freedom Act to the Senate Floor for Immediate Vote!
Below is a press release from Freedom Principle MO on SB 814, the Education Freedom Act. The Education Freedom Act needs support, and you can help! Here is what you can do:
Contact Senator Trent at Curtis.trent@senate.mo.gov or call his office at 573-751-1503 and Senator Rowden at caleb.rowden@senate.mo.gov or call his office at 573-751-3931. Tell them we want the Education Freedom Act, SB 814, brought to the Senate Floor for an Immediate Vote!
For Immediate Release
(April 4, 2024 – St. Louis, MO)
The Freedom Principle MO is calling for Senators Trent and Rowden to bring SB 814, the Educational Freedom Act, sponsored by Senator Jill Carter (Dist. 32) to the Senate floor for an immediate vote. The Educational Freedom Act removes the reliance on one-time, end-of-year assessments, the MAP test. Under the Act, public and charter school districts would have the freedom to create, purchase, or adopt an interim assessment system that measures students’ knowledge at the beginning of each school year and measures academic growth throughout the school year. “We sent a letter to Senator Trent and Senator Rowden to urge them to bring SB 814 to the Senate floor for an immediate vote,” said Byron Keelin, President of the Freedom Principle MO. “The Educational Freedom Act is supported by conservative and progressive grassroots and education organizations. When was the last time you heard of a bill receiving bipartisan support not being passed? Never. There is no reason why this bill shouldn’t be immediately passed.”
Missouri is one of 15 states that require state accreditation through its state department of education. “These assessments are not concerned with improving quality or results,” said Keelin. “These assessment tests are used to determine which schools get more money for high performance or special attention to improve. The results of the process are used for fiduciary purposes and are not focused on growth and improvement.”
SB 814 would remove the burdensome mandates imposed by the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) Annual Performance Reports. Under these mandates, the teachers are teaching children what the MAP requirements are and not focusing on what will help children succeed. “The requirements under the MISP are not focused on the educational curriculum but instead focus on topics like “Social, Emotional Learning,” said Keelin.
The Freedom Principle MO recently held a webinar with Senator Jill Carter to learn more about SB 814. “The Freedom Principle MO supports parental choice when it comes to education, but shouldn’t that choice also include parents’ rights to send their children to quality public schools?” said Keelin.
Senator Carter told participants in the webinar, one of the main reasons for our decline in public education is that we have tied the hand of public schools by forcing schools to use the MAP test, however, the MAP test is developed without input by a third-party, outsourced company and prohibits administrators, educators, and parents from knowing what is contained in this assessment. Teachers and administrators are held to certain standards but don’t know what metrics are being measured to achieve these standards. “This is like trying to study for a test when you don’t know what subjects are going to be on the test,” said Keelin.
SB 814 was voted “Do Pass” unanimously by Republicans and Democrats of the Education and Workforce Development Committee, currently being chaired by Senator Curtis Trent (Dist. 20). The committee was previously chaired by Senator Andrew Koenig, but he was removed when Senator Caleb Rowden removed members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus from their chairmanships. “Senator Koenig supported this bill and was planning to vote this out of committee but didn’t get a chance to because of Senator Rowden,” said Keelin.
“Missouri taxpayers are required to pay for public schools. If we are going to be forced to pay for something, why not make sure our public schools are the best in the United States?” said Keelin. “ Please contact Senator Trent at Curtis.trent@senate.mo.gov or call his office at 573-751-1503 and Senator Rowden at caleb.rowden@senate.mo.gov or call his office at 573-751-3931.”
The Freedom Principle MO is a pro-citizen, pro-Missouri First organization. We are a membership-based 501(c)4 organization, acting locally and state-wide, to protect our families and our constitutionally protected liberties. We are fighting for America. We are fighting for Missouri. We are fighting for you. For more information about the Freedom Principle MO visit our website at www.freedomprinciplemo.org.
# # #
Contact Information
Byron Keelin
President, Freedom Principle MO
e-Mail: freedomprinciplestl@protonmail.com
Phone: 314-402-0655