Missouri鈥檚 board of education will decide Tuesday whether to implement social emotional learning standards for K-12 students.
But though board members praised the potential guidelines during an August meeting as teaching 鈥渢he basics of what it means to be human,鈥� the proposal has also inspired plenty of negative feedback among the submitted in the run up to Tuesday鈥檚 meeting in Jefferson City.
The negative comments, which made up roughly a third of those submitted, include accusations that the department is trying to raise 鈥渆motionally fragile snowflakes鈥� and establish 鈥渃ritical race theory.鈥�
Five respondents indicated that they were state legislators 鈥� all with negative reviews.
Positive feedback was shorter, with comments like, 鈥淟ooks good to me.鈥� Some were hopeful that students鈥� mental health would benefit but worried about adding a burden to educators.
Missourians had a 30-day public comment period through the department鈥檚 website. The survey prompted participants to identify their title and county of residence.
The groups more likely to hold a negative view than a positive or neutral response were: community members, employers, legislators, school board members and superintendents.
Social-emotional learning, according to the August board meeting, is 鈥渢he direct attempt to build children鈥檚 social and emotional competencies in school settings.鈥�
Of the five Missouri lawmakers who offered comments, one repeatedly described the standards as 鈥減sychobabble group think,鈥� and another wanted to 鈥渢each the Bible and the Bill of Rights.鈥�
Rep. Hannah Kelly, a Norwood Republican who recently announced a campaign for State Senate, said parents were responsible for the emotional wellbeing of their children.
鈥淭his is the role of the family kitchen table. Absolutely inappropriate expansion of government education,鈥� she wrote in DESE鈥檚 survey.
Speaking to The Independent, she said she was worried the standards could become a performance measure for teachers and eventually be attached to money.
鈥淢issouri families need to address these issues at the kitchen table,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淭hese issues should not be added to the demands in the classroom for teachers to perform on.鈥�
Kimberly Bailey, a member of the Missouri State Board of Education from Raymore, said during the August meeting that neither the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education nor the state board are advocating for anyone to change their values.
鈥淟ike reading, writing and arithmetic, this is just the basics of what it means to be human,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hen if a community wants to teach values in addition to that鈥� We鈥檙e not teaching values; we鈥檙e teaching basics.鈥�
Bailey pushed for more words to be defined in the standards, worried people would 鈥渨eaponize鈥� the guidelines if not clearly explained. The proposal contains a lengthy glossary, defining words like 鈥渇air鈥� and 鈥渒indness.鈥�
Board President Charlie Shields knew social-emotional learning would create controversy. But he said he sees these traits outlined in his friends on either side of the political spectrum.
鈥淧eople are just going to attack and say, 鈥榃ell, this has no part in education,鈥欌�� he said during the August meeting. 鈥淕iven all the challenges we face鈥� If we can鈥檛 (have these standards), how do you expect learning to happen?鈥�
DESE administrators told board members that districts with social-emotional learning are having less teacher turnover, as the standards for respect improves discipline.
The Plato R-V school district, which recently adopted a policy improving school climate and culture, saw teacher turnover decrease from 40% to 11%, said Chrissy Bashore, coordinator of school counseling and student wellness.
Potosi teacher Kim Greenlee, who worked on the standards, said social-emotional learning is 鈥渨hat teachers need.鈥�
鈥淲hen we spend time and are given permission to spend time with the (social-emotional-learning) standards, we鈥檙e going to see that student achievement comes up,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause if students feel like they belong, attendance is going to start to rise in a school setting. And if students are there more, we鈥檙e going to see that their learning grows.鈥�
Of the 321 K-12 educator responses, 52% were in favor of the standards and 20.4% were neutral.
The largest group of commenters were parents, comprising 46% of respondents, of which 52% were positive.
The geographic spread of public comments were disproportionate to the state鈥檚 population, with over 28% of respondents identified as living in St. Louis city and St. Louis County and 12.8% in St. Charles County.
Other items in Tuesday鈥檚 meeting include recommendations to dissolve the state鈥檚 special administrative boards currently in place over the Riverview Gardens and Normandy Schools Collaborative school boards and return to local governance.
