Charter school funding amendments in Missouri
According to a press release Missouri has approved an amendment to the school funding formula.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. The Missouri Legislature on Thursday gave final approval to a bipartisan compromise that eliminates a 17-year glitch in the school funding formula, which caused an inequity in charter public school funding.
The legislation will fully fund charter public schools in Missouri, while holding local school districts harmless. The bill’s passage is just the latest in an extremely constructive legislative session for Missouri public education.
The 116-29 vote in the state House of Representatives sends House Bill 1552 to the desk of Gov. Mike Parson. The Missouri Senate previously passed the bill by a vote of 29-5.
“This legislation ensures that Missouri’s more than 25,000 charter students are provided the full resources needed to thrive in the classroom,” said Dean Johnson, president of the Quality Schools Coalition, a statewide nonprofit education reform organization. “It’s a historic investment in urban education that will help every single public-school student in our state’s two largest cities.”
“Passage of this much-needed charter funding equity legislation marks the culmination of a prodigiously fruitful legislative session for Missouri education,” Johnson said. “Lawmakers in the House and Senate and in both parties really stepped up for students, parents and teachers this year.”
HB 1552, sponsored by Rep. Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, updates a school funding formula in which the share of property taxes that charter public schools receive is based largely on the amount of local taxes from 2004-05.
As a result, charter public school students in Kansas City currently receive $1,700 less annually than students in district schools. The gap is even wider in St. Louis, where charter students receive about $2,500 less than their district counterparts. House Bill 1552 eliminates this funding gap.
The charter funding equity legislation is just one of several legislative measures that will improve Missouri schools, including:
● HB 3002 raises Missouri’s minimum starting teacher pay from $25,000 to $38,000.
● HB 3002 fully funds the state’s 75% share of school transportation costs for the first time since 1991. This will free up additional money for classrooms throughout the state.
● SB 681, which remains pending in the House, includes important accountability measures that require the state to produce a list of the bottom performing 5% of schools and districts each year. The legislation also ensures that Missouri makes the Annual Performance Reports and accreditation of each school and district clear and easily accessible to parents, students and the public on their website.
● SB 681 also raises literacy standards by requiring schools to begin assessing students on their reading levels in kindergarten rather than third grade, and providing additional support on reading comprehension for students who are behind.
Seventeen years ago, when the funding formula was written, only 10 percent of Kansas City students attended charter public schools. Now, half of all public-school students in Kansas City attend such schools. In St. Louis, only 7.5 percent of students attended charter public schools in 2005. That compares to 41 percent this year.
Charter schools are tuition-free public schools open to all students. They are accountable to all state and federal guidelines for serving students with special needs, homeless students, English language learners and students eligible for free and reduced lunch.
Charter schools operate independent of the traditional school district and their ability to innovate and serve the needs of their immediate community has made them increasingly popular.
“We thank the many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for their support and strongly believe that the education legislation and budget passed this year will help improve public education and strengthen Missouri’s workforce for years to come,” Johnson added.