A new era has begun at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Karla Eslinger is the state’s latest public education commissioner.
Last December, the Missouri Board of Education announced Eslinger as Missouri’s seventh top educator.
She took over on July 1. Eslinger succeeds Margie Vandeven, who served as at the helm for about eight years.
Eslinger started her career as an elementary school teacher before serving as a building principal and superintendent in Ava and West Plains.
After retiring as superintendent, Eslinger was an assistant commissioner in the Office of Educator Quality at DESE.
She then went on to work for the AEM Corporation, serving as a senior analyst for education services and providing technical assistance to the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
From 2019-2020, Eslinger represented District 155 in the Missouri House of Representatives. Her most recent work was representing District 33 in the Missouri Senate from 2021-2024.
Eslinger said she has often been referred to as “the school lady.”
“I have always been somebody who has been connected to and supportive of and really championing the great work that we do in this state in the area of education,” she told Missourinet.
Through the years, Eslinger has had many titles. She said her favorite title is “nanny.” She has four grandchildren who have given her the beloved nickname.
You could say that education comes up on a regular basis at her dinner table in southern Missouri’s Wasola.
“My whole family is educators,” she said.
Her oldest daughter is a high school business teacher. Her youngest daughter is an elementary school principal. One son-in-law is a superintendent. Her husband is a retired industrial arts teacher.
As commissioner, Eslinger leads a team of about 1,700 state workers. She oversees the instruction provided within Missouri’s roughly 550 K-12 public schools, along with the state’s 34 schools for the severely disabled, one school for the deaf, and one school for the blind.
What is she most excited about doing as commissioner? Building a team.
“I think that’s probably something that I always look forward to when I take on a new adventure, and that is bringing people together to do good work, because it feels really good. The thing is, that I feel that I’m responsible for, possibly for making all of this successful. But their success is mine, and so it’s vice versa. If the people from this department feel good about walking in every day and they feel like they are contributing and they’re valued, and they have success in their job, then success creates success,” Eslinger said.
Eslinger said her vision is simple – she wants great schools for all students.
“I know that’s huge, and I know it covers everything under the sun as far as what does good education look like. But frankly, that is what I want. I want for every child who is going to a school in Missouri to have a wonderful experience,” said Eslinger. “I want a great teacher around them. I want a super principal in that building. I want that district to be attached to that community, and I want things to go well. You can call it what you want…I don’t care, charter, public, whatever. I want good schools.”
According to Eslinger, she will continue the initiatives underway to help boost reading skills among the youngest learners.
“I think the thing that I can bring to the table is the urgency and the absolute necessity for this to be a quality experience for all of our kids of that age group. We know what it costs to remediate. We know what it costs when we fail. We know what the impact is when they are ready to go and ready to learn and on grade level in the early elementary years. That’s the goal, because then you can’t stop a kid if they start having a love for learning. They own their learning. And they really and truly have that drive and motivation and if it’s an interest to them. The sky’s the limit,” said Eslinger.
She said she does not want to let off the reading pedal.
“I know that the former commissioner has had a real focus on that,” said Eslinger. “I just want to be able to know that every child, by the time they get to the third grade, that they are able to read to learn. That’s foundational to me, that literacy piece. We’re doing a lot, have invested a lot of resources in truly preparing our teachers to be able to teach reading.”
Other initiatives handed off to her include increasing access to preschool, safe and healthy schools, as well as boosting teacher recruitment and retention.
Her position comes under regular political criticism and pressure – something that Eslinger is used to as a former state lawmaker and assistant commissioner at DESE.
“The thing that I that, I think, that I always do, is I go back to what is it that we value? We value safe schools. We value quality teachers. We value really good solid curriculum and the ability to assess whether or not our kids are learning. And if you stay focused on the things that really and truly make a difference and just really rely on data as to how you inform your decisions, I think that you’re going to be okay,” said Eslinger.
One of the political hot button topics centers around expanding school choice initiatives.
“A parent should be able to have the opportunity to say, ‘This is what I believe is best for my child.’ The thing that I think we’ve done in this stage is we’ve decided one is better, or best, or not as good as. I think what we have to do is stop doing that and start creating these opportunities for us all to live in the same place and not compete. We want good schools, great schools for all kids,” she said. “I will support a parent’s choice, but if it’s a taxpayer dollar going to support that program, we have to make sure that we are doing a good job with that investment and make sure that there is, you know, metrics around are we getting the job done so there, there’s not a lot of wasted time and effort and resources.”
As Eslinger settles into her new gig, she praises the work of her employees who are dedicated to providing support to Missouri’s schools.
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