Missouri’s public education system is crumbling, and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), under Commissioner Karla Eslinger, is at the epicenter of the collapse. Tasked with overseeing nearly 900,000 students across 550 school districts, DESE is mired in bureaucratic excess, funding chaos, teacher shortages, and a stubborn resistance to school choice. Eslinger, a former state senator appointed in July 2024, has failed to deliver the bold leadership Missouri needs, leaving parents, educators, and taxpayers disillusioned. This article exposes DESE’s systemic breakdowns and Eslinger’s inadequate stewardship, revealing a department in disarray and a commissioner incapable of steering the state’s schools toward success.
DESE’s Bureaucratic Quagmire: Choking Missouri’s Classrooms
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has become a bloated bureaucracy, strangling the state’s education system. Lawmakers like Sen. Andrew Koenig and Rep. Doug Richey have blasted DESE for its “significant bloat and mission creep,” arguing that the department has drifted from its core purpose of supporting classroom instruction. In a scathing letter to the State Board of Education, they demanded a complete overhaul, accusing DESE of prioritizing administrative sprawl over student needs. The Missouri Times echoed their concerns, painting DESE as an inefficient agency that squanders resources while failing to deliver results.
DESE’s financial troubles amplify this criticism. For the 2024-2025 school year, the department faced a $1 billion cut in appropriations compared to the previous year, forcing a desperate plea for $174 million in supplemental funding. Missourinet has questioned DESE’s fiscal priorities, noting that its 1,700 state employees and hefty administrative costs drain funds that could support teachers and students. Why, critics ask, is DESE struggling to fund schools while maintaining such a sprawling workforce? The department’s dependence on federal funding—27% of its $8.7 billion budget—leaves it vulnerable, especially with President Trump’s executive order threatening to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Yet DESE’s lack of a proactive plan to address this uncertainty only deepens the perception of incompetence.
Eslinger has shown no ability to tackle this bureaucratic mess. Her empty promises to “build a team” and “focus on strategic priorities” fall flat against DESE’s entrenched inefficiencies. Missouri’s taxpayers deserve a streamlined DESE that puts classrooms first, but Eslinger’s leadership suggests she’s content to let the bureaucracy fester.
Karla Eslinger’s School Choice Betrayal
School choice is a critical issue for Missouri’s families, yet Karla Eslinger’s record reveals a troubling reluctance to embrace it. As a state senator in 2021, Eslinger voted against a bill creating Missouri’s K-12 tax-credit scholarship program, a vital tool for empowering parents with educational options. This vote, reported by The Missouri Times, shocked advocates like Sen. Andrew Koenig, who see scholarships and charter schools as essential to breaking the public school monopoly. Eslinger’s opposition aligned her with traditional education interests, raising serious doubts about her commitment to parental rights.
Her rhetoric as commissioner is equally disappointing. Eslinger claims to support “parent choice” and “public charters” while offering vague endorsements of “good schools” across the board—rural, urban, public, or private. This evasive stance, noted by KCUR, frustrates those who demand a clear push for charter school expansion and voucher programs. A deeper look at her legislative record reveals further missteps: in 2023, Eslinger proposed a bill that would cut funding for charter schools when state transportation aid is underfunded, a move that undermines the very choice she claims to support. These actions suggest she’s more interested in preserving the status quo than delivering real options for parents.
Missouri’s school choice movement is gaining momentum, with lawmakers like Rep. Doug Richey pushing for reform. Yet Eslinger’s lukewarm approach threatens to stall progress. Her failure to champion educational freedom betrays the families who rely on DESE to provide alternatives to failing public schools. The Missouri Times reported expectations for a commissioner who will “regain parental trust and confidence,” a goal Eslinger seems wholly unprepared to meet.
Teacher Shortages: Eslinger’s Race to the Bottom
Missouri’s teacher shortage is a crisis that DESE has failed to address, and Eslinger’s leadership offers no hope for change. The state’s 11% annual teacher hiring rate—higher than the national average of 8%—reflects rampant turnover, with shortages most severe in math, science, and elementary education. Missourinet highlighted DESE’s struggles, noting Missouri’s abysmal ranking for teacher pay. While Eslinger has voiced support for higher salaries, her policies prioritize expediency over quality, undermining the state’s educators.
DESE’s decision to lower the GPA requirement for teacher certification from 3.0 to 2.5 in certain subjects is a prime example. Eslinger defends this as removing “unnecessary barriers,” but critics, as reported by The Missouri Times, warn it risks flooding classrooms with underqualified teachers. Her reliance on a single study of 1,174 STEM teacher candidates, which found no significant difference in certification exam pass rates, is a weak justification for a policy that could erode educational standards. This shortsighted approach fails to address deeper issues like inadequate pay, poor working conditions, and lack of professional support.
Eslinger’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Playbook, billed as a solution, is another letdown. Stakeholders, per Missourinet, criticize its incremental approach, arguing it lacks the urgency needed to halt Missouri’s teacher exodus. Temporary salary grants that raised starting pay to $40,000 have lapsed, and Eslinger has failed to secure permanent funding. Missouri’s educators deserve a commissioner who fights for competitive wages and meaningful reforms, not one who lowers standards and recycles failed strategies.
Funding Chaos: DESE’s Financial Incompetence
DESE’s funding woes are a glaring indictment of its leadership, and Eslinger’s tenure shows no signs of improvement. The department’s $1 billion budget cut for 2024-2025, coupled with a $174 million supplemental funding request, reflects a lack of fiscal discipline. Missourinet noted that DESE’s bloated administrative costs divert funds from classrooms, a point underscored by Sen. Bill Eigel’s call to abolish DESE entirely. Why is DESE begging for more money while failing to streamline its operations?
The potential loss of federal funding, tied to President Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, exacerbates the crisis. With 27% of DESE’s $8.7 billion budget reliant on federal dollars, the department faces a financial cliff, yet Eslinger’s response is woefully inadequate. The Missouri Times described DESE’s “wait-and-see” approach as passive, leaving schools scrambling for answers. This lack of foresight endangers special education and other federally funded programs, exposing Eslinger’s failure to plan for disruptions.
DESE’s oversight of troubled districts like Hickman Mills C-1 further highlights its financial ineptitude. A state investigation, prompted by a whistleblower, uncovered $1.4 million in misallocated funds that could have supported classrooms or teacher salaries. While DESE isn’t directly implicated, its inability to enforce accountability in a district it has monitored since 2012 reflects poorly on its leadership. Eslinger’s silence on this scandal suggests either indifference or incompetence, neither of which Missouri’s schools can afford.
Eslinger’s Leadership Vacuum
When Karla Eslinger was appointed commissioner, hopes were high that her 30 years of education experience would translate into bold leadership. Instead, her early tenure reveals a troubling lack of vision. The Missouri Times reported expectations for a commissioner who would downsize DESE, champion school choice, and restore parental trust, yet Eslinger has failed on all fronts. Her refusal to identify as a reformer or traditional public school advocate may appeal to some, but it leaves her without a clear direction. Her generic promises to support “good schools” and “build a team” lack the specificity needed to tackle Missouri’s education crisis.
Eslinger’s legislative record is a liability. Her 2021 vote against the tax-credit scholarship program and her 2023 bill to cut charter school funding reveal a pattern of resisting school choice. The Missouri Times noted that these decisions have left advocates like Sen. Andrew Koenig wary, questioning her suitability for the role. Her limited track record as commissioner—marked by no major policy wins or high-profile initiatives—only deepens these doubts.
Public sentiment on X reflects widespread frustration, with users calling for a reset of DESE’s leadership and slamming its bureaucratic excesses. While these posts don’t name Eslinger directly, they capture significant discontent with the department’s direction under her watch. Her failure to engage with these concerns signals a disconnect with Missouri’s families, a critical misstep in a state demanding change.
The state continues to ruin public schools with burdensome mandates that take away from instruction in the classroom.
Why is #moleg @MissouriGOP's fix?
To put the same bureaucratic state over private and homeschool through strings on vouchers/tax credits.
— MO Education Watch (@MOEdWatch) April 10, 2025
The Office of Childhood Disaster
One of DESE’s most embarrassing failures under Eslinger is the collapse of the Office of Childhood, which oversees child-care services. In 2023, the office launched a new data system that triggered a massive backlog of payments to providers, plunging families and businesses into chaos. The Missouri Times reported that the system’s technical failures led to the resignation of the office’s head, Pam Thomas, in February 2025. As commissioner, Eslinger bears responsibility for this debacle, which exposed DESE’s inability to manage critical programs. Her lack of public action or accountability measures further erodes trust in her leadership.
The Office of Childhood fiasco is a symptom of DESE’s broader incompetence. Resources meant to support Missouri’s families were wasted on a flawed system, and Eslinger’s inaction suggests she’s either unprepared or unwilling to address such failures. Parents deserve a commissioner who ensures reliable services, not one who presides over administrative disasters.
A Call for Accountability
Missouri’s education system is at a breaking point, and DESE, under Karla Eslinger, is failing to lead. The department’s bureaucratic bloat, resistance to school choice, ineffective response to teacher shortages, and financial mismanagement have left students, parents, and educators stranded. Eslinger’s evasive stance on key priorities, coupled with her lack of transformative reforms, renders her unfit to steer Missouri’s schools. Her early tenure is defined by missed opportunities and inherited failures, from the Office of Childhood catastrophe to the looming threat of federal funding cuts.
Lawmakers like Sen. Bill Eigel have proposed abolishing DESE and redistributing its powers to other agencies to eliminate its bureaucratic stranglehold. While drastic, this reflects the depth of frustration with DESE’s performance. Eslinger must answer for her failure to downsize the department, champion school choice, and address teacher shortages with more than half-measures. Missouri’s students deserve better than a commissioner who clings to the status quo while the system collapses.
As the 2025 legislative session approaches, Eslinger faces a critical test. Will she deliver the reforms Missouri demands, or will she continue to oversee a failing department? Based on her track record, the outlook is grim. Missouri’s parents, educators, and taxpayers deserve a DESE that prioritizes classrooms over bureaucracy, choice over conformity, and accountability over excuses. Until Eslinger proves she can deliver, her leadership—and DESE itself—will remain a liability for Missouri’s future.
