Education commissioner Karla Eslinger speaks during a state Board of Education meeting Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024.
JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Missouri should revisit the way it supports 鈥渃hronically low-performing schools鈥 over the coming year, state Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger said as she unveiled her priorities at a State Board of Education meeting Wednesday.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education鈥檚 current approach is 鈥渃ookie-cutter,鈥 she said, lacking individual supports customized to struggling schools.
鈥淲hen you have a school district in crisis, there鈥檚 not a real plan on how to address that,鈥 Eslinger said. 鈥淪o we need to have a more comprehensive plan.鈥
Board member Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, of Pasadena Hills, underlined the importance of careful intervention.
Westbrooks-Hodge spoke about a conversation she had with a school superintendent who worked in an Illinois district east of 最新杏吧原创 when it lost accreditation.
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鈥淪he described an intense, hands-on approach with the state of Illinois walking hand in hand,鈥 Westbrooks-Hodge said. 鈥淪he asked why that approach wasn鈥檛 done with underperforming school districts in Missouri.鈥
There are also challenges coming from the federal level with 鈥渄isruption鈥 in the U.S. Department of Education, Eslinger said. The department is 鈥渟truggling to draw down federal dollars more consistently.鈥
She suggested 鈥渁 shift in the way we manage our federal programs,鈥 such as consolidating programs in a centralized application.
The department should also improve its data handling, she said, adding that DESE 鈥渘eeds to be much better and much more efficient in its data system.鈥
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how many times I sat on the Senate floor, and I didn鈥檛 have the ability to rebut somebody鈥檚 idea of what was happening in public education because we don鈥檛 have the data,鈥 Eslinger said.
The department also needs to improve its website and increase connectivity with the public.
There will be noticeable changes in the communications department, she said. Currently, the department is looking for a new director of communications.
鈥淲e have been responsive to people who have questions, but we haven鈥檛 talked to the state as a whole,鈥 she said.
She has asked the state board to conduct annual evaluations of the commissioner, which the board wasn鈥檛 doing when she took office last year.
The board is meeting Wednesday and Thursday as part of a board retreat to reorient members to the expectations and responsibilities of the board. Half of the board are new appointees, and the department has a number of high-ranking employees in new positions.
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