By Otto Fajen, MNEA legislative director
SENATE DELAYED BY FREEDOM CAUCUS FILIBUSTER
The seven members of the self-identified Freedom Caucus held up Senate action on approval of gubernatorial appointments on January 18 in an effort to force Senate leaders to agree to an expedited schedule for action on the many joint resolutions filed to change the initiative petition process.
After roughly eleven hours of discussion, Sen. Rowden withdrew the motion to approve the appointments but did not refer any IP joint resolutions. The Senate then reported to the floor SB 748 (Lincoln Hough) to renew the FRA healthcare provider tax and then SCS/SB 727 (Andrew Koenig) regarding tax credit vouchers and charter school expansion. Either or both of the two bills turned in could be taken up for consideration when the Senate convenes next week on January 22.
SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES TAX CREDIT VOUCHERS AND CHARTER EXPANSION
The Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development voted to approve two tax credit-style school voucher bills on January 17 and included charter school expansion in the committee version of one of the bills. SCS/SB 727 was reported to the floor and could be taken up for debate as soon as next week. The Association believes that tax credit tuition plans and voucher plans compromise free, equitable, universal and quality public education for every student. The Association opposes both bills.
SCS/SB 727 (Andrew Koenig) expands the existing tax credit voucher enacted in 2021. The bill expands the program to include all counties in the state, increases the allowable annual amount of credits to $75 million and raises the qualifying income threshold to 400% of the income eligibility for reduced price school lunch. The bill also increases the maximum per student award by multiplying the State Adequacy Target (currently $6,375) by the formula factors for students with identified needs.
The SCS version of SB 727 also authorizes the establishment of charter schools in school districts in St. Louis County and St. Charles County and in Columbia school district without sponsorship by the local school board. The Association believes that charter schools should be sponsored by and accountable to the local community through the elected school board and approved only after an impact study is conducted by the district to consider the proposal.
SB 729 (Andrew Koenig) would create a new tax-credit-style voucher that allows a taxpayer a 100% credit for private school expenses up to the State Adequacy Target amount. Prop C revenues will be deducted from each district in the amount of such credits granted to taxpayers residing in the district.
The committee was also scheduled to hear SB 867 (Rick Brattin) on January 17, but the hearing was postponed and has been rescheduled for January 24. SB 867 also creates a new tax-credit-style voucher similar to SB 729 but does not affect school district Prop C revenues.
CHARTER SCHOOL EXPANSION
The newly created House Special Committee on Education Reform heard three charter school expansion bills on January 17:
HB 1485 (Brad Christ) authorizes the establishment of charter schools in school districts in St. Louis County without sponsorship by the local school board.
HB 1764 (Justin Hicks) authorizes the establishment of charter schools in school districts in St. Charles County without sponsorship by the local school board.
HB 1941 (Cheri Toalson Reisch) authorizes the establishment of charter schools in the Columbia school district without sponsorship by the local school board.
The Association opposes all three bills. The Association believes that charter schools should be sponsored by and accountable to the local community through the elected school board and approved only after an impact study is conducted by the district to consider the proposal.
OPEN ENROLLMENT
The House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education voted to approve an HCS version of HB 1989 (Pollitt) on January 18. The bill would create a public school open enrollment program. The Missouri NEA believes that public school choice plans with state funding may harm students and our public schools unless essential criteria are in place for implementing, monitoring, and evaluating their effectiveness. The Association opposes the HCS version of the bill. If approved by the House Rules - Regulatory Oversight Committee on January 22, the bill could be taken up by the House for consideration later next week.
As filed, HB 1989 would not transfer local funds from the sending district. School districts would have the option to specify the number of transfer students they are willing to receive. The bill does not authorize transfers to charter schools or to full-time virtual schools.
HB 1989 included some specific provisions to mitigate the potential for open enrollment to increase racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic segregation. However, the HCS removed the provisions to mitigate re-segregation. The bill also allows a receiving district to deny a transfer to a student with an IEP if that district does not have existing capacity to fulfill the requirements of the IEP.
ACCREDITATION AND ASSESSMENT REFORMS
The Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development heard SB 814 (Jill Carter) on January 17. The bill seeks to reduce the negative effects of the misuse and overuse of standardized testing. The Association supports the bill. The bill limits the use of statewide assessments strictly to the uses required under the federal ESSA Act, including identifying schools for support and improvement. Public schools will create or adopt local assessments that will also be included in school report cards. The State Board of Education will select at least two national accreditation agencies from which public schools may seek accreditation.
HONESTY IN EDUCATION/PARENT RIGHTS/DON'T SAY GAY BILL
The Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development heard SB 728 (Andrew Koenig) on January 17. The bill contains provisions relating to parental access to school information. The bill also creates state law prohibitions affecting teacher and student interactions and includes penalties on school staff that could include loss of certification and liability to parent lawsuits. The Association is concerned that the bill would adversely affect the freedom of teachers to provide the honest education our students deserve. The Association opposes the bill.
The committee will also hear SB 902 (Nick Schroer) on January 24. This omnibus bill includes restrictions on instruction, requirements regarding curriculum and professional development documents, expansion of tax credit style vouchers, school building letter grades, and many other provisions. The Association opposes the bill.
FULL-TIME VIRTUAL SCHOOLS
The House Special Committee on Education Reform will hear HB 2287 (Phil Christofanelli) on January 22. The Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development will hear SB 780 (Karla Eslinger) on January 23. The bills make minor revisions to clarify the new structure of accountability, enrollment, participation, and finance created and enacted for full-time virtual schools in 2022 by SS/HCS/HB 1552 (Richey). The Association supports the bills.
HOME SCHOOL ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION MANDATES
The House Special Committee on Education Reform will hear SB 819 (Ben Brown) on January 24. The bill would require MSHSAA to allow home school students to participate in activities or member schools would lose state funding, but the bill did not pass. The Association believes that educators should continue to establish the policies that govern student activities.
SUPERINTENDENT PAY LIMIT
The House Special Committee on Education Reform will also hear HB 2344 (Ben Keathley) on January 22. The bill would limit local control of superintendent pay by creating a state cap of five and one-half times a beginning teacher's salary in the district.
ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT INVOLVING PRIVATE SCHOOL EMPLOYEES
The Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development heard SB 766 (Holly Thompson Rehder) on January 17. The bill establishes consequences for a private school that fails to disclose allegations of sexual misconduct against a former employee when furnishing a job reference for the employee. The liability created is similar to existing law regarding the failure of a public school to disclose allegations against a former employee.
BATHROOM MANDATE BILLS
The House Committee on Emerging Issues met on January 17 and heard three bills that would restrict local control regarding the use of bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms in public schools. HB 2355 (Ben Baker), HB 2308 (Adam Schnelting), and HB 2357 (Chris Lonsdale) require that all public school shower rooms, locker rooms, and restrooms accessible for use by multiple students to be designated for and used by students of the same biological sex. Each bill allows public schools to make accommodations for transgender students under certain requirements. The Association opposes these unnecessary restrictions of local control.
INITIATIVE PETITION
The House Committee on Elections and Elected Officials will meet on January 23 to hear two joint resolutions to change the initiative petition process and the process of amending the Constitution. HJR 72 (Ed Lewis) would raise the approval requirement for constitutional amendments to a statewide majority plus a concurrent majority in at least five of Missouri's eight Congressional districts. HJR 102 (Ed Lewis) is similar except that it requires a concurrent majority in at least 82 of Missouri's 163 House districts. Both resolutions also ban initiative petitions seeking to increase sales taxes on food or to enact property taxes. The Association is concerned that the resolutions will make it more difficult for Missouri citizens to bring forward and gain approval on measures of interest brought by the initiative petition process. The Association opposed the joint resolutions.
OMNIBUS ELECTIONS BILL
The House Committee on Elections and Elected Officials heard HB 2140 (Peggy McGaugh) on January 16. The bill modifies provisions related to elections. The bill shifts the candidate filing period for school board candidates one week later in the same manner as HB 1604 (Dave Hinman). The bill also allows officers calling an election to contact election authorities by email, allows absentee voting on election day for presidential and vice presidential electors, increases the privacy of absentee voters with permanent disabilities, ensures provisional ballots are available at all elections, extends restrictions on electioneering to in-person absentee voting locations, and creates the offense of tampering with an election official as a class one election offense.
The Association believes that barriers that reduce access to voting and participation in the political process should be removed to allow for involvement by all eligible citizens and supports the bill.
PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES
The Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tax Policy heard two similar bills to reduce personal property taxes on January 16. Both bills would significantly reduce local taxes on personal property, including school taxes. The Association opposes both bills. The bills would permanently eliminate the taxes on personal property in most or all counties by reducing the personal property assessment ratio for the county in order to offset revenue produced by real property assessment growth. This provision will stagnate local school revenues and local property taxes each year until all personal property tax revenues are eliminated. Current data shows that personal property accounts for between 16% and 46% of total tangible assessed property value across Missouri's counties.
HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAXES
The Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tax Policy heard SB 756 (Tony Luetkemeyer) on January 16. SB 756 revises the senior citizen property tax credit enacted in 2023 in SB 190. The bill clarifies that any such homestead credit starts when a county acts to adopt the optional property tax credit and is not retroactive to a prior year when a taxpayer might have otherwise become eligible based on age qualification. The bill also clarifies that a taxpayer must be 62 years or older to qualify, rather than being Social Security-eligible. Qualifying taxpayers must also not have delinquent taxes in order to qualify.
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