By John Haughey
(The Center Square) – The Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee begins daily hearings this week on the $34.1 billion state Fiscal Year 2022 budget approved by the House last week.
The House’s proposed budget does not include the $130 million set aside by Gov. Mike Parson in his $36 billion proposed spending plan that appropriates the state match for Medicaid expansion approved by voters in August.
How the Senate restores – or doesn’t – that state match for Medicaid expansion will provide much of the drama in the coming weeks as the Legislature gets down to the nitty-gritty of adopting a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Lawmakers must present the governor with a budget before the session adjourns May 14. The last day appropriations can be considered is May 7.
But the House effort to “defund” Medicaid expansion will hardly be the only point of contention during budget talks.
Missouri public school officials are lobbying lawmakers to reject a bill to expand the state’s charter school program and establish education savings accounts (ESAs).
Senate Bill 55, filed by Senate Education chair Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, would permit charter schools, currently only allowed to operate in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas, to expand to any school district within a municipality with a population greater than 30,000.
SB 55 would create the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program (MESAP) that would allow parents to use state tax-credit vouchers up to $6,000 to pay tuition at private schools.
Under the bill, $100 million in tax credits could be donated to non-profit organizations that provide scholarships for students to attend a private school or home school.
In addition, SB 55 includes a recall provision for local school board members and imposes a one-term limit on state board of education members.
SB 55’s House companion, House Bill 349, filed by Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Charles, was approved by the House 71-1 on Feb. 25 and has been read twice in the Senate. SB 55 will likely be merged with HB 349 into a single piece of legislation for adoption.
Missouri School Boards Association Deputy Director Brent Ghan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch it will continue to lobby against SB 55/HB 349 as it is debate on chamber floors.
“Charter schools aren’t held accountable by the state, and they’re not accredited,” he said, noting charter school board members aren’t required to be local residents, their meetings aren’t public and their academic performances are “mixed at best.”
Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Peter Stiepleman said in the last 20 years, 25 of 65 charter schools opened in Missouri have closed “due to academic performance or financial issues.”
“Investing in making public schools the best they can be should be the goal of every elected official,” he told the Post-Dispatch. “Public education is a national treasure. Let’s treat it that way.”
Missouri Charter Public School Association Director Doug Thaman dismissed criticism from public school officials that charter schools lack oversight.
“The public votes with their feet,” Thaman said. “If people don’t enroll in the school, that’s the greatest accountability. Charter schools are required by law to meet the same standards as traditional public schools.”
Thaman said school choice advocates and charter school supporters have no sympathy for public school officials complaining about “diverting” state money from school districts because it’s not their money but taxpayers’ money.
“It depends on who we believe the money belongs to,” Thaman said. “In public education, those dollars don’t belong to a specific institution, it belongs to the children. It’s money that’s meant for the education of children.”
Originally published by The Center Square. Republished with permission.
