Yesterday, I as Missouri Speaker of the House, kicked off the 2013 legislative session with a speech outlining the agenda for the year. I focused on the Triple E Plan, which includes economic development, energy, and education policies that will help get government out of the way of the economy and encourage the creation of the family-supporting jobs that Missouri needs.
I highlighted the successes of several Missourians, including Rhonda Broussard of St. Louis and Sergio Cuevas of Wildwood.
Mrs. Broussard is founder and president of St. Louis Language Immersion Schools, a company that manages charter schools which allow children to learn languages in an immersive format. By using the educational freedoms afforded by Missouri's charter school program, she has given the children of St. Louis access to educational opportunities not provided by the traditional public school system.
Mr. Cuevas, originally from Valparaiso, Chile, moved to the United States to escape the oppressive regimes of Salvador Allende in Chile and Juan Domingo Peron in Argentina. He is the owner of Clean-Tek Flooring Systems, Inc., a business which started with one employee in 2003 and has grown to six full-time employees and eight part-time employees.
I was honored to have the opportunity to introduce these individuals as examples of the values of ingenuity and hard work, which are such an important part of what makes Missouri great.
Being named Speaker of the House is a tremendous responsibility, and I look forward to the opportunity to serve Missouri in this capacity for the next two years as we work to put Missouri back on the road to prosperity.
By the way, what went wrong with the Imagine charter schools? http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/shuttering-of-imagine-charter-schools-in-st-louis-is-daunting/article_ec4adf66-bde4-5e11-91d2-baca703df156.html
" Apparently alone among the Missourians attending ALEC, Jones received a $1,251.58 campaign contribution, dated August 31. The contribution is the third this year from ALEC for Jones, who has been ALEC's top water carrier in the Missouri Legislature, helping push model legislation written by special interests. Earlier this year, ALEC gave Jones $350 on June 21 and $1,071.39 on January 17. . The January 17 and August 31 contributions are unusual amounts for normal campaign contributions and appear far more likely to be reimbursement for expenses, possibly including costs of lodging and travel, though the contributions are not listed as in-kind. ALEC would appear to be getting its money worth out of Jones since his first news conference as speaker included an echo chamber endorsement of ALEC's anti-teacher, anti-public school sentiment, and a promise to lead an attack on teacher tenure."