By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
State Sen. Gary Nodler on Thursday called on Gov. Jay Nixon to decide if the state has money this year to fund a program that pays teachers in public schools for student tutoring and other work outside regular class time.
“If the governor believes there is enough revenue available to pay for some or all of this year’s Career Ladder expenditures and will request a supplemental appropriation, I will support it and vote for it,” Nodler said at a news conference in Springfield.
Governor’s support
Career Ladder has the support of Nixon, said Jack Cardetti, director of communications for the governor’s office, in a phone interview.
“That’s why he funded it last year, and that’s why he’ll put money in the budget for it next year,” Cardetti said.
Nodler, R-Joplin, who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he questions whether money will be available in the current budget climate to pay the full $37 million price tag for the program. He said allocating some federal budget stabilization funds for Career Ladder “would be an appropriate use.”
He said the governor and lawmakers will have a better idea of available funding after the December release of a revenue estimate that is a consensus of state budget experts and outside consultants.
“If (Nixon) he decides he can, I would urge him to submit a supplemental budget request to the General Assembly, so teachers and school districts will know where they stand,” Nodler said.
Nodler earlier this year joined state Rep. Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, chairman of the House Budget Committee, in writing a letter warning that lawmakers could not ensure that the work of Career Ladder participants would be supported by state appropriations in the current school year and beyond.
‘Encouraged’
Mark Sponaugle, chairman of the Career Ladder committee for the Carthage R-9 School District, said he was “encouraged” by Nodler’s comments on Thursday.
“I think he’s recognized there is a lot of support out there for Career Ladder, and Gov. Nixon has been a supporter of education for a long time,” he said.
The Career Ladder program started in 1985. Since 1991, state funds have been paid “in arrears,” at the end of the school year and after teachers have completed their work. This year, school officials in the area said, teachers have continued their Career Ladder commitments, despite warnings that state funding might not be available.
Nodler said a supplemental appropriation would address this year’s funding, and that Career Ladder funding in the future “should become a regular part of the budget process to be considered on its own merits.”
Cardetti said the governor’s office would not support funding Career Ladder twice in a year.
“The state funds Career Ladder once a year and will continue to do so,” he said. “There’s no reason to fund it twice.”
Questions
Sue Day, a Career Ladder chairwoman for the Joplin School District, said she questions if there would be two funding allocations “in a year when the budget is so terribly tight already.”
If the state share is only partially funded, she said, that would leave teachers without pay for some of the work they already have done.
Ron Lankford, superintendent of the Webb City School District, said he believes the questions Nodler raised “need to be answered.”
“This speaks to the current and future Career Ladder issue,” he said. “I always thought funding it in arrears was a dangerous precedent.”
