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Vermont Senator Sanders emphasizes diplomacy during Missouri lecture

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Sanders was given an honorary doctorate, bestowed by Westminster College acting President Carolyn Perry.

Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) quoted former Republican President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 warning about the “Military-Industrial Complex” during a lecture Thursday morning before about 1,300 people at historic Westminster College in Fulton.

The Vermont Senator delivered the 58th Annual Green Foundation Lecture at Westminster, as dozens of others who couldn’t get tickets stood outside in the 90-degree heat under a tent and listened on a PA system.

Sanders, who narrowly lost the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, is the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history.

Security was tight at the event, with Fulton Police, Callaway County Sheriff ‘s deputies and Missouri Highway Patrol troopers on-hand. Fulton Police Chief Steve Myers tells Missourinet FBI agents were also on the Westminster campus.

Eisenhower served as President from 1953 to January 1961. During his farewell address, Eisenhower warned against the “Military-Industrial Complex.”

Today, Sanders says he agrees with Eisenhower.

During his approximately 50-minute lecture at Westminster’s Champ Auditorium, Sanders also addressed issues ranging from North Korea to Iran to Russia to wealth inequity in the United States.

Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech on the Westminster campus in 1946.

Senator Sanders discussed that speech on Thursday, saying he wants a world of peace, with decent education and housing.

“Dialogue and debate are far more preferable to bombs and poison gas,” he says.

He also emphasizes the importance of diplomacy regarding North Korea and Iran.

Sanders applauds the Iran nuclear deal and warns the United States should not try to change it. He says former President Barack Obama (D) “showed real leadership and real power”, and says the agreement was reached without the loss of life.

He also discussed North Korea, saying the United States should consider tightening sanctions. He emphasizes that the United States should not work on the issue alone, but should work with China and other members of “the international community.” Sanders describes North Korea as a “shared problem.”

Senator Sanders also blasts the Iraq war, saying thousands of Americans have been killed or wounded in that war, which began in 2003.

Sanders is critical of past U.S. government decisions that he says put American security at risk.

For instance, he says that in 1953, the United States supported the overthrow of the democratically elected President of Iran, who was replaced by the Shah of Iran. Sanders says the Shah’s regime was oppressive, and notes he was deposed in the 1979 revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power.

Sanders asks he crowd to think about what Iran would be like today had the U.S. government not supported that 1953 overthrow. Sanders alleges the overthrow was done at the request of Western oil companies.

While Sanders spent most of his speech criticizing U.S. policy, he praises the 1948 Marshall Plan, which was spearheaded by then-President Harry Truman (D) of Missouri.

Sanders notes that after World War I, the allies punished Germany. Some say the conditions in the early 1930s helped bring Hitler to power.

After World War II, Sanders says that instead of punishing and humiliating the war’s losers, the United States pushed the Marshall Plan to help rebuild Germany and other Western economies. The cost at that time was more than $13 billion. Sanders says that’s the equivalent to about $130 billion today. The aim was to rebuild the war-devastated areas and prevent the spread of communism.

Sanders describes the Marshall Plan as an “extraordinary success.” He says Germany is now a strong democracy and economic power.

The Vermont Senator also addressed climate change and income inequality.

“Friends, it’s time to get serious about climate change,” Sanders says, as the audience cheered.

He says it’s a foreign policy and a national security issue, and says climate change is caused by human activity.

Sanders says the “top one percent” own too much, adding that thousands of children around the world die from easily prevented diseases.

He also condemns white supremacy, saying “there are no two sides on that.”

Other Green Foundation lecturers at Westminster have included President Gerald Ford (1977), Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush (1986) and former U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev (1992).

Senator Sanders did not hold a media availability at Westminster, so reporters were unable to ask him questions.

One question some have is whether Sanders will run for President again in 2020. He did not address that during today’s speech.

 

 

 

More Missouri school districts going to four-day weeks (AUDIO)

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The number of Missouri districts going to school four days a week has increased from 15 to 18 in the past year.

State Rep. Bill Reiboldt (R-Neosho) speaks on the Missouri House floor in 2017 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications}

State Rep. Bill Reiboldt, R-Neosho, tells Missourinet he’s received excellent feedback on four-day weeks, especially in rural areas.

“I’ve had opportunities to talk to a lot of people from teachers to administrators to parents,” Reiboldt says. “Everybody loves it in our area.”

Former Governor Jay Nixon (D) signed the optional four-day school week into law in 2011. Reiboldt, who supports that law, describes a four-day school week as another “tool in the toolbox” for districts.

“We’re saving money on transportation, families like it,” says Reiboldt. “They’ve worked around, you know, where mom and dad are both working. Maybe the grandparents get to stay or get to keep the kids for one day extra.”

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) spokeswoman Sarah Potter says 18 of Missouri’s 518 districts currently have a four-day school week.

That number has increased by three since February.

“It won’t work in every community, we understand that. But it’s working very well, especially in the rural communities in our area,” Reiboldt says.

The 2011 bipartisan law signed by Nixon moved from requiring 174 days of instruction to a total of 1,044 hours for districts that wanted to go to four days.

The Lathrop R-II District in northwest Missouri was the first district to make the change.

DESE says the 18 Missouri school districts that currently have a four-day week are:

** Community R-VI

** Miami R-1

** Harrisburg R-VIII

** East Lynne 40

** Stockton R-1

** Lathrop R-II

** Everton R-III

** Albany R-III

** Jasper County R-V

** Laclede County C-5

** Miller R-II

** Pierce City R-VI

** Maries County R-II

** Holliday C-2

** Wellsville Middletown R-1

** Montgomery County R-II

** Orearville R-IV

** Niangua R-V

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Bill Reiboldt, R-Neosho, which was recorded at the Statehouse in Jefferson City on September 13, 2017:

 

 

No tickets left for Senator Bernie Sanders’ Thursday Fulton lecture

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Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I) will travel to mid-Missouri’s Fulton Thursday morning to deliver a foreign policy speech.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (2017 photo courtesy of Westminster College)

The Vermont Senator will deliver the 58th Annual Green Foundation Lecture Thursday morning at 11 at Westminster College. Westminster says Sanders will lecture “on his vision for a progressive American foreign policy.”

Westminster spokesman Rob Crouse tells Missourinet Champ Auditorium seats about 1,300 people, and that all tickets have been issued.

Crouse says the live stream will also be shown Thursday in overflow rooms at the campus church (Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury) and in the Coulter Lecture Hall. He says there will also be speaker systems set up outside Champ Auditorium for people to listen.

Crouse says Senator Sanders is writing the speech, specifically for this Fulton event.

The 76-year-old Sanders, who narrowly lost the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, is the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history.

He served 16 years in the U.S. House and is finishing his second U.S. Senate term.

Sanders won 1,893 delegates in 2016, receiving more than 13-million votes. National media reports indicated that is the fifth-most votes of any candidate in a presidential nomination race.

Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech on the Westminster campus in 1946.

Other Green Foundation lecturers at Westminster have included President Gerald Ford (1977), Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush (1986) and former U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev (1992).

Retired General David Petraeus traveled to Fulton to speak at Westminster in April. General Petraeus warned that the United States must keep its “eyes wide open” when cooperating with Russia.

Alumni group at shuttered western Missouri military school gets ownership of famed WW I statue

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Former students at the oldest military school west of the Mississippi River are getting ownership of a coveted monument.

Image courtesy of Wentworth Military Academy

The alumni association of the recently closed Wentworth Military Academy and College in Lexigton was fighting to retain control over a 94 year-old World War I Doughboy statue.

Since its founding 137 years ago in the era following the Civil War, the institution has seen its enrollment highs and lows.  The student body swelled during the world wars and nosedived after the Vietnam War.  After some gains following the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the high school and junior college saw its population and financial picture plummet like many other military academies in recent years.

Kansas City-based Bank Midwest holds a lien on the property and is auctioning its inventory on October 7th, and had planned to include the Doughboy.   The Lafayette County Circuit Court will scheduled to hear arguments over the fate of the statue Tuesday morning at 9:30.

But instead, the court signed off and finalized an agreement reached Monday night by the bank, the school and the alumni association for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Doughboy from being auctioned off.

The bank also agreed in principle Monday night to allow the alumni association to take ownership of the statue.  Wentworth graduate and attorney George Hittner, who was representing the alumni, says the ownership pact should become official soon.  “The parties have all agreed,” said Hittner.  “It’s time now just to reduce it to writing.  But the Doughboy will be coming home to the alumni association.”

Wentworth alumni had steadfastly claimed that they paid for the Doughboy and had dedicated him in 1923 to the memory of 16 Wentworth Cadets who died in World War I.  About 30 members of the group gathered after the court hearing to salute the Doughboy, which was a requirement for first year students at the school.

Hittner said Monday night’s agreement came as a big relief to the former Wentworth students.  “We are now shifting our focus to preserving the rest of the history of the 137 years that Wentworth was around.  But the most iconic image of Wentworth has been preserved, and it will be sold off to the highest bidder.”

The monument is one of about 140 copies created by sculptor Ernest Moore Viquesney, (1876-1946).  The statues, referred to as the “Spirit of the American Doughboy”, were sold during the 1920s as a tribute to soldiers.  Doughboy was an informal term for members of the Army and Marine Corp. during World War I.

At Wentworth, first year cadets, known as RAT’s (Recruit at Training), were ordered to salute the 5 1/2-foot–tall Doughboy from a 12-foot distance in their first year.  They were also forbidden from walking behind him or approaching him.

Hittner said the Doughboy holds a unique place in the minds of school alumni.  “It’s a statue that has the names of fellow alumni who died in the First World War on the statue.  And it’s just a very, very well entrenched symbol of not only the service and sacrifice of Wentworth alums, but of the school and everybody’s time spent there since 1923 (the year it was installed)”.

Jim Sellers is a Wentworth alum with deep connections to the school.  He’s the great-great-grandson of founder Stephen G. Wentworth, and the great grandson of Sandford Sellers, who was its Superintendent between 1880-and-1938.

Sellers says the Doughboy holds special meaning for former students.  “It’s always represented to those of us who have attended Wentworth, service, duty, honor and country,” said Sellers.  “It’s a very important part of the Wentworth experience, its culture and its legacy.”

The Alumni Association wants to preserve the Doughboy for public display. Its court document even offered options, including the lawn of the Lexington Courthouse or a potential Wentworth Museum.

Hittner said that after the sides came to an agreement Monday night, the alumni formed a committee to determine where to place the monument.

It’s current location at the school is one of three known Doughboys on public display in the state.  The others stand on the lawns of the Pettis County Courthouse in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia, and the Polk County Courthouse in southwest Missouri’s Bolivar.

Sellers says the school’s former students have strong ties to each other, regardless of the era when they when they were at the institution.  “One of the amazing things about Wentworth is the extent to which all of us, regardless of when we attended, have a very common shared experience, and a deep kinship and bond of that experience.”

Missouri Board of Education proposes $6.1 billion for next fiscal year

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The state will receive a $6.1 billion budget request for the next fiscal year to fund Missouri’s K through 12 public schools – an increase of about $100 million from the previous year’s request.

Missouri Board of Education proposes $6.1 billion for next fiscal year

For the first time in Missouri history, the state legislature and governor have fully funded the formula used to finance Missouri’s schools. That move comes at a cost. Board President Charlie Shields, a former Missouri Senate President Pro Tem, says the board’s proposal includes a $98 million increase to fully fund the formula.

“We realize there are a lot of pressures on the state budget,” says Shields. “Certainly, you look at that $98 million foundation formula and that’s a huge pressure on the state budget.”

Department and board officials will explain minimums needed to fund core items like busing. The agency’s transportation sector is underfunded by about $180 million.

Shields says about $48 million of the proposed increase is also from newly-required pre-kindergarten funding.

“Because it (the formula) was fully funded, it triggered this piece for pre-K education. This is a significant increase in the formula cost but is driven by legislation,” says Shields.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has about 1,700 full-time equivalent workers.

State law requires the department to have a budget request to the Missouri Office of Administration by October 1.

The state’s overall fiscal year budget is about $27 billion, with about $8.2 billion, or about one-third, sucked up by the state’s Medicaid costs.

Survey shows Mizzou’s campus climate shares trends of other universities

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A Mizzou survey about campus mood says roughly 40% of freshmen and sophomores have seriously considered leaving the university. The leading reasons are a lack of belonging and an unwelcoming environment.

Survey shows Mizzou’s campus climate shares trends of other universities

The analysis also finds that about one-third of Mizzou students, faculty and staff are uncomfortable on campus. Roughly 19% have reported experiencing hostility on campus. Sue Rankin of Rankin & Associates, which conducted the survey, says that figure is slightly worse than the national average of 20% to 30%

“In our focus groups when we have other institutions and talk about this nationally is that students of color or other marginalized or underserved students, veterans, international students, African-Americans, Hispanics, LGBT, they all say they are barely surviving the experience,” says Rankin.

Chancellor Alexander Cartwright says the challenges must be addressed immediately.

“We need to make sure that we address that and have everybody understand that we want you here, we want to make sure you’re successful,” says Cartwright.

Last year, Mizzou’s return rate for first-year students was 87%. Rankin says about 30% of all college students nationwide have highly considered leaving their school.

“The interesting part is that most of them don’t leave,” says Rankin. “They’re staying because they might be the first in their family to go to college. They could be that international student that said ‘I have so much pressure to be successful. I can’t go home. I have to stay and finish.’”

Colleges and universities nationwide suffer from a revolving door of faculty members, including at Mizzou. About 52% of Mizzou staff and 60% of faculty say they have also seriously pondered whether to make an exit. Chief among the reasons include feelings of inadequate salary, lacking possible job advancement and believing some workers were valued more than others.

Rankin says the Mizzou findings are also similar to that of national figures.

“People come and they can’t cut it and so they go,” she says.

Rankin says the figure is especially true of faculty of color and women in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

Missouri school named after Confederate general to be renamed

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The Columbia Public School Board has voted to form a committee charged with finding a new name for Lee Elementary School. Board President Darin Preis says school officials have already removed some references to Confederate general Robert E. Lee. He says changing the name is long overdue.

Darin Preis

“It was 1999 when we informally changed the name to Lee Expressive Arts,” says Preis. “So that was the first step to kind of remove the stigma of Robert E. Lee from the school but the board didn’t take any formal action at that time.”

Lee Expressive Arts stands for “Learn, Explore, Express”. Lee Elementary School officials requested a permanent name change.

Opponents of the move say Robert E. Lee did important work after the Civil War.

“My personal opinion is he is only known in history because of his role with the Civil War,” says Preis. “He’s not known because of his work following that.”

Preis says he’s impartial about what to rename the school.

“I would go with a number for a school at this point,” says Preis. “Sometimes it’s dangerous applying a name to a school building. I have not heard any other options out there, so they have a clean slate to start from.”

The committee is expected to make a final recommendation by December.

Hank Koebler of KSSZ contributed to this story.

Top issues expected to fizzle in Missouri Legislature’s veto session today

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A state legislator under fire for her death wish against the president is expected to dodge a hurdle today. Republican Lt. Governor Mike Parson indicates on Twitter that his call to have Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University, expelled from office lacks the required Senate votes to do so.

Top issues expected to fizzle in Missouri’s Legislature veto session today

The Missouri Legislature’s annual veto session today could still include a vote by the Senate to condemn Chappelle-Nadal for her remark about the president. Senate Minority Leader Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, has removed Chappelle-Nadal from her committee assignments.

The University City Democrat has apologized for her comment about Trump.

It’s unknown whether State Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, will get similar attention in the House for saying that Confederate vandals should be hung from a tall tree with a long rope. State Rep. Nick Marshall, R-Parkville, is expressing frustration about their words.

Some members have denounced Love’s actions while others are outraged and have gone as far as calling for his resignation.

Another issue grabbing extra attention ahead of today’s veto session involves funding cuts to about 8,000 seniors and disabled Missourians. A Twitter post by Parson also indicates there’s not enough support for his call on the legislature to find $34 million in alternate funding for in-home and nursing home care.

During the final seconds of this year’s regular legislative session, the legislature set their differences aside to pass the bill. Members have been looking for another compromise since Republican Governor Eric Greitens’s veto of the bi-partisan bill that would have taken unused state funds to offset the costs of the care services. He says the measure would jeopardize funding for abused children, injured workers and first responders.

A veto override attempt is not expected today that would have authorized the sale of $48 million in state bonds to fund a new arts building at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Governor Greitens says the bill is too costly to taxpayers and booted the measure after the school announced a new funding source for the plan. The bill passed during the regular session with enough votes to overturn the governor’s veto.

According to the Missouri Constitution, both chambers will gavel in today at 12 p.m. Members can meet for up to ten days. The session is expected to finish this week.

U.S. Education Secretary to visit Missouri this week

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U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is coming to Missouri this week. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that her visit is part of her tour to tout innovation in education from elementary school to college. She’s also making trips this week to other Midwestern states, including Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas.

Betsy DeVos

The time and location of DeVos’s visit to Missouri have not been announced. Missourinet has contacted the U.S. Education Department for more details.

DeVos supporters say she will restore local control on education issues through her pursuit for more school choice. She faced a backlash in late February after she called historically black colleges and universities “real pioneers” of school choice.

In a historic vote of 50 to 50 with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a deadlock, the U.S. Senate confirmed in February DeVos as education secretary. It’s the first time a vice president has broken a tie on a presidential cabinet nomination.

News of DeVos’s visit comes on the same day a Missouri legislative committee is discussing ways to find common ground to expand charter schools statewide.

Charter school expansion arguments to return to Missouri Capitol today

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Some passionate discussions are likely to unfold today at the Missouri Capitol during a legislative committee hearing about a possible statewide charter schools expansion. The same arguments return year after year in some legislators’ quest to go beyond current state law of allowing charter schools in St. Louis and Kansas City school districts, and any that are unaccredited.

Representative David Wood (courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

State Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, who chairs the Joint Committee on Education, tells Missourinet he hopes discussion will go beyond the typical divisive battle cries.

“It becomes kind of like battle lines and when dollars are involved, it always very touchy. But the truth is, we’re really needing to look out for the education of the students. In an ideal world, they would work together and keep the students’ benefit at the center of their controversies, not the dollars and not the accountability piece,” says Wood.

Opponents of charter schools, which are publicly funded and operate independently, say the for-profit organizations take money away from public schools and more charter schools are failing than public schools.

Supporters of such legislation say charter schools allow students in failing public schools to go to a school that is providing a better education and charter schools have just as much accountability as public schools.

“I would like to see the argument of the APR scores really take a backseat and look more at what we can do positive to say ‘Here’s what we need to do to make charter schools more effective,’ if it’s holding them to a higher standard, closing the bad ones, having more accountability,” he says.

Wood hopes a workable solution can be found during next year’s legislative session that all sides can live with.

“I think if we don’t have the discussion like we’re going to have with the Joint Committee and come to language that we can all agree on or at least a large portion, it’s probably going to meet the same fate as every other year,” says Wood.

Today’s hearing will begin at 10 a.m.