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Mo. House approves legislation seeking to boost minimum teacher salaries

Published

2 years ago

April 11, 2023

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A wide-ranging education bill cleared the Missouri House this week that includes a boost to minimum teacher salaries from $25,000 to $38,000.

The bill also seeks to increase the amount the state can give school districts for each years’ operating budget.

The bill now heads to the Missouri Senate.

Missouri ranks 50th in average starting teacher salary, according to the National Education Association.

Under the legislation passed by the House Tuesday, the state would pay for 70% of a teachers’ salary increase for four years. But because the bill places more money into the funding formula for schools, districts should be able to afford the full salary increase in the future, bill sponsor Rep. Ed Lewis, R-Moberly, said during debate on the proposal.

The bill also seeks to establish scholarships for students who commit to teaching in hard-to-staff positions post-graduation, but this provision isn’t appropriated yet.

Lewis said the scholarship funding is included in the budget approved by the House last week and currently before the Senate.

“We wanted to make sure we could recruit and retain teachers with this scholarship,” he said.

The fiscal note on the bill says that, when fully implemented in fiscal year 2032, the cost would be between $277.4 million and $314.8 million.

The bill passed on a 145-5 vote. The lone Democratic “no” Rep. Kevin Windham, D-St. Louis, said he opposed the bill because of a provision added to enable more school staff to serve as school protection officers.

Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, said she voted in favor of the bill to “get more dollars into the classroom.” But she said provisions added to the bill as amendments, like the “Stop the Bleed” program that would require tourniquets in every classroom, fail to solve problems.

“Saying that that’s the state that we’re in right now is that we have to recognize that in every single classroom, we have to have the need to stop students from hemorrhaging and dying and bleeding to death instead of actually addressing the gun violence in our state is incredibly problematic,” Nurrenbern said.

Other amendments added to the bill during House debate include the development of a high school personal-finance course and a raise for retired educators who return to the classroom as substitute teachers.

Districts would also be allowed to create differentiated salary schedules to incentivize filling hard-to-staff positions and schools.

The bill also folds in Neosho Republican Rep. Ben Baker’s “Extended Learning Opportunities Act,” which would require districts to inform students of opportunities to earn school credits outside of the classroom.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and Twitter.

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Man attacks Jeff Co. deputy with screwdriver during attempted arrest

Published

2 years ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.

Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.

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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.

Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.

Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.

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St. Louis Public Schools superintendent to be sworn in

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2 years ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.

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Gas tanker crashes into St. Louis Metro transit center

Published

2 years ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.

The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.

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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.

A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.

The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.

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