Last week the Kansas City Star published a piece that reported a distinct difference in vaccine distribution for teachers between Kansas and Missouri. According to the story, COVID-19 vaccines were available for Kansas educators while Missouri educators were still ineligible. 

Thankfully, during his weekly press conference, Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced that the state plans to open up vaccines to those in Phase IB, Tier 3, which means that Missouri teachers and child care providers will be eligible starting on March 15. 

According the Associated Press, "seven of the eight states adjacent to Missouri are already vaccinating teachers." 

Denise Kahler, director of communications and recognition programs for the Kansas State Department of Education, told the Kansas City Star, "More than 70% of Kansas school districts report that the vaccine is being administered to their school staff, and we anticipate that number to rise sharply in the next few weeks."

HB 865 (Shields) - a bill that authorizes the creation of county early childhood education boards and a property tax levy to provide funding for early childhood education services passed out of the Committee on Children and Families by a vote of 7-3. 

HB 973 (Shields) - a bill that increases the amount of state aid that districts and charters can receive for Pre-K to serve students who qualify for free- and reduced-lunch will receive a vote next Wednesday in the Committee on Emerging Issues.

This week the Senate took up SB 55, sponsored by Senator Cindy O'Laughlin (R-Shelby). After hours of debate lasting until early the next morning, the bill was laid over on the Senate Informal Calendar.

 

The House also debated education reform. HB 349 sponsored by Rep. Phil Christofaneli (R-St. Peters) creates scholarship accounts that provide funds to be applied to private schools and also can cover costs for tutoring, computers, and summer education programs, to name a few. The House only debated the bill for a few hours before perfecting it by a narrow 1 vote margin (83-71). The final House vote on this measure was even closer, only passing by the required 82 vote margin. 

The bill sponsor added an amendment that establishes qualifying tiers for the scholarships (equal to the state adequacy target of approximately $6,300) as follows:

In order to gain enough support for passage, the bill sponsor added a rural carve out and made the provisions only apply to counties with a charter form of government OR any city with a population of at least 30,000.

Under the provisions currently in HB 349, families in the following counties and cities would be eligible to reach scholarship funds:

Those combined counties and cities represent about 55% of the total Missouri population.

We expect more floor action by both chambers during the next two weeks as we get closer to the legislative spring break. 

 

Today is the committee deadline for all nonexempt bills. Both chambers will be on the floor all next week. 

New Education Omnibus Bill

A substitute for HB 2119 was proposed this week, offering a voucher to families of eligible children to access funding equal to the base state aid per pupil to pay for private school tuition and other expense. This bill incorporated the language from HB 2068, expanding tax credits for students to attend private schools and HB 2067, requiring school districts to allocate funding to ensure all students achieve specific goals. 

The bill includes a penalty for schools who keep students in remote learning for more than 40 days, a $500 bonus for all teachers with COVID-19 funds, and supports Governor Laura Kelly's budget, including additional funds for the Gannon settlement. 

Click here for more info.

Back to school on March 26th? 

The Senate Education Committee heard SB 235 this week, which would require schools to provide an in-person option to all students by March 26th. We expect debate next week. 

HB 2039 - the House Education Committee approved an amended version, requiring students to pass a civics test to graduate high school. 

HB 2371 - a bill removing cooperation with child support from requirements for food and childcare assistance and exempting adults enrolled in school from the 20-hour-per-week work requirement for child care assistance, was heard and passed out of the Committee on Children and Seniors. 

Childcare subsidy components of this bill are critical to workforce development, if Kansans in need can access the subsidy program, this ensures they can send their children to childcare while they work and/or complete their education. 

Aligned supports this bill as it offers our most vulnerable children access to food and childcare while their parents work or complete their education.