This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 24, 2011 - Because the Missouri state Board of Education decided to apply for $60 million for early childhood education from Washington, schools in the state could lose money from Jefferson City.
At issue is a dispute with members of the legislature who told education officials not to seek the grant from Washington because they had made it clear they did not like one of the main conditions Missouri would have to meet to get it -- set up a rating system for preschools. The state board ignored the pointed advice and voted earlier this month to apply for the money, part of the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.
For several years, efforts to establish a quality rating system for preschools in Missouri have met with opposition in the legislature. Because such a system is a key element in the application for the federal grant, the decision by the state school board to apply for the money is viewed as a challenge to the legislature's authority by state Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield.
"It's the legislature's job to set policy," Cunningham said. "It's the administration's job to enforce policy and implement it. What they would be using the money for something the people's representatives oppose, because we realize it hurts choices for children."
Cunningham was particularly critical of Kathy Thornburg, who has two half-time jobs that have figured directly into the dispute -- as assistant commissioner for early learning in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and as director of the Center for Family Policy and Research at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Cunningham complains that Thornburg has a conflict of interest because in her role with the state, she is trying to impose on preschools a program she helped develop in her role with the university. But Thornburg says she has been cleared of any possible conflict of interest, and both of her positions are dedicated to make sure that young children have the best possible preschools to give them a head start toward a good education.
Besides, she said, the rating system that is part of the state's application for the federal grant was put together by a lot more people than just her.
"It's not the Kathy Thornburg system," she said. "It's the state committee's system. We got input from everybody. It's a very collaborative grant. I basically was just trying to herd the cats."
Preschoolers Race to the Top
Missouri was among 35 states, including Illinois, that submitted applications by the mid-October deadline for a share of $500 million in the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, administered jointly by the Departments of Education and Health.
The official description of the program said the winners will be those states that meet three basic criteria:
- Increase the number and percentage of low-income and disadvantaged children in each age group of infants, toddlers and preschoolers who are enrolled in high-quality early learning programs;
- Design and implement an integrated system of high-quality early learning programs and services;
- Ensure that any use of assessments conforms with the recommendations of the National Research Council's reports on early childhood.
Missouri's application -- all 158 pages -- is similarly a collaborative effort, with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education taking a lead role in working with the departments of health, mental health, and social services, the Coordinating Board for Early Childhood and the Missouri Head Start-State Collaboration Office.
At this month's meeting of the state board of education, Thornburg said the goals of the federal program, and the features of the state grant, both are aligned with one of the key parts of Missouri's "Top 10 by 20" initiative, to make sure that all Missouri children enter kindergarten prepared to be successful in school.
A central component to the state plan is creation of a quality rating and improvement system that is designed to improve preschool education in Missouri by drawing up standards; monitoring how well preschools meet the standards; devising ways that schools that are lagging behind can catch up; and informing parents how well schools are performing.
Thornburg, who has been a key player in the development of the plan, said it is part of a similar movement among preschools and states nationwide.
"We wanted to have a valid, reliable assessment tool on where the programs stood as far as quality," she said, "but more important we wanted to be able to say to schools that if you have a two-star program, what is the feedback we can give so you can improve to be a three-star program. The end goal is what's good for the children."
Opposition in the Legislature
That kind of program may sound non-controversial, but it didn't prove to be during discussions in the General Assembly.
Cunningham said that for several years, efforts to enact a rating system for preschools in Missouri were debated in both the House and Senate, but the two chambers could never agree on what such a system should include. In the last two years, she said, the issue gained no traction at all.
Her main objection, she said, was that the plans tried to impose a "government-directed, one-size-fits-all state preschool system" on schools that didn't want one. The idea was particularly unpopular with non-public preschools, Cunningham said, whether they are religious or secular.
Because of Thornburg's dual roles at DESE and at Mizzou, Cunningham said, some schools felt pressure to accept a plan that she had helped create as an educator and was trying to push as an administrator.
"We're hearing across the state from preschool directors that their programs do not fit her evaluation system," Cunningham said. "It doesn't work for them, and they made it clear they are afraid to speak up publicly because she has authority over them. They are afraid of her, and they don't trust her."
If the plan were to be put into place, she added, children would be the losers.
"If they don't submit to her one-size-fits-all plan," Cunningham said, "then when money or whatever vouchers become available to give to income-eligible families to choose a preschool, they won't have a choice. It dramatically reduces the choices for low-income people."
Cunningham also said that she feels that the state board of education is overstepping its authority by moving ahead when she and other lawmakers sent them a letter that they should "cease and desist from taking any further action on the application for the Early Learning Challenge Fund or applying for grants from any other source that requires an early childhood quality rating system."
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder sent a similar letter, saying that for the state board to proceed "would go directly against the expressed will of the General Assembly and show a complete disregard for Missouri's legislative process."
Board Goes Ahead
That opposition didn't stop the board from proceeding. It discussed the issue in September, with all members but one -- Deborah Demien from Wentzville -- voting to proceed with the application. At its October meeting, it approved the application with little discussion.
Earlier this month, before the latest vote, Chris Nicastro, commissioner of elementary and secondary education, and Peter Herschend of Branson, president of the state school board, wrote to Kinder and to the legislators that "as always we respect your guidance and your governance role" but added that they felt it "is in the best interest of Missouri's schoolchildren to move forward and submit the application."
The letter concluded:
"We know you share our passion for doing what's best to ensure the success of all Missouri's children. We welcome continued dialogue."
What happens now?
There hasn't been any more dialogue between the board and the opponents to the grant application since the vote. The federal grants are set to be awarded by the end of the year. But beyond that, the issue isn't about to go away.
When Cunningham was asked why it would be so bad for Missouri to have $60 million to improve preschool education, she replied:
"Spending money on a bad thing is worse than spending no money at all."
Speaking of money, did she plan to try and punish DESE by withholding appropriations in next year's legislative session? She said she couldn't speak for all 34 senators and 163 representatives, adding:
"I did talk to Commissioner Nicastro and let her know that this is a very dangerous area we're walking into, because I know how legislators feel when they are being defied. I'm not going to predict what might happen. That's for 197 of us to decide."
As for Thornburg, she hopes the state wins the money because it will be the kind of grant that has long-lasting implications for young Missourians.
"It's not just something that will serve more children for four years, then all of a sudden we'll have to close down because the money is gone," she said. "The money is to build the system."
That system, she added, will help children and parents by letting them know who is doing the best job of teaching.
"We give millions of dollars to programs," Thornburg said, "and there is no accountability structure set up for what we are paying for. On one hand, people are saying we need accountability, that we want to make sure our children are in high-quality programs. Others are saying we have no reason to be in this business."
Thornburg said she has not talked with Cunningham about the issue -- or about her alleged conflict of interest -- but would welcome the opportunity. What she hasn't welcomed are the implications that she is somehow doing something wrong, when all she is trying to accomplish is what she has worked for over a career of more than 40 years.
"My heart and my mind have always been just focused on improving the quality of programs for young children," she said. "I would be disappointed if there was some punitive measure related to initiative in trying to help young children.
"I'm not going to say it's been fun or nice. What has really taken a toll is getting the grant in. We've all put our heart and soul into it, seven days a week. I'm pretty determined and continuing to work for what is best for kids. I know some things being said aren't true. But I just continue to work for what my life's work has been. I'm OK. I'm OK."