FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – Today, Missouri educators announced the filing of a lawsuit to stop an unconstitutional $51 million voucher scheme that diverts taxpayer funds to private schools. The suit, filed by teachers Kimberly Duvall and Rebeka McIntosh with the Missouri National Education Association, challenges House Bill 12's scheme that funds private schools while allowing them to reject any child.
"I watch my colleagues pour their hearts into teaching every child: the shy kid, the one who needs extra help, the child with autism like my own," said Kimberly Duvall, a Blue Springs teacher and plaintiff. "Meanwhile, private schools cash our tax checks, then turn around and reject kids just like mine. For any reason, without even telling them why. Public money should mean public rules: you take every kid, period."
The lawsuit identifies five constitutional violations:
- hiding policy in the budget,
- referencing unauthorized statutes,
- making unconstitutional contracts,
- exceeding the Treasurer's powers, and
- spending unauthorized funds.
"Twenty-five years in the classroom taught me what works—public schools work. We teach every child to read, do math, and graduate ready for life," said Rebeka McIntosh, a 25-year elementary teacher and Missouri NEA Vice President. "But these private schools can reject your child for any reason. No explanation needed. We're paying them to discriminate while our own kids lose out."
The lawsuit requests the court immediately block all transfers and expenditures of the $51 million appropriation. The Missouri National Education Association is also a party to the lawsuit.
"Politicians in Jefferson City and their privatization lobbyists are stealing from our kids," said Missouri NEA President Phil Murray, a 29-year rural educator from Poplar Bluff. "In rural Missouri, that $51 million means losing our music teacher, canceling basketball, and watching our schools crumble. They're killing our small towns. If these private schools want public money, they should at least follow public rules: take every student, open your books, hold public meetings."