Report Critical of MO Schools

(AP) – An education advocacy group in a new report is critical of Missouri’s policies for its schools.The report released Monday by StudentsFirst gives Missouri an overall grade of D-minus.It says the state should require school districts to make teacher effectiveness the driving factor in decisions about pay, tenure and layoffs. In addition, it urges state government to improve the selectiveness and quality of alternative certification options.The report also urges Missouri to develop a system for grading schools annually on an A-through-F scale based upon student performance, and suggests requiring parental consent before children are assigned to a teacher rated as ineffective.The report also calls for allowing mayoral control of low-performing districts.