Student choice bills receive committee hearings in House and Senate
Both education committees in the House and Senate heard bills this week that would allow school districts, if they choose, to accept a small percentage of transfer students and have the tuition covered by the sending district. While language that allows limited, often needs-based interdistrict transfer has been on the books for some time, these provisions will enable the student's family to decide to switch schools as long as the receiving district agrees to participate in the program.
The bill sponsor, Representative Brad Pollitt, a former school superintendent from Sedalia, presented HB 253 and opened by asking, "Should your address be the main determination as to what public school your child attends? I don't believe it should. Should the family and the child be the center of the educational focus, I believe they should."
Pollitt explained that 34 states have some form of policy that allows students to select and attend districts outside their residence area, 28 are mandatory, and 16 are choice. He added that the average participation rate is between 3 and 8 percent. Districts are not required to take students, but they cannot "hand pick" students if they participate in the program.
Dr. Stacey Preis, testifying on behalf of Aligned, told the committee, "We have been supporting the open enrollment bill since Representative Pollitt first introduced it, and we have watched him make numerous accommodations and concessions, and he has addressed things such as transportation capacity, special education, extracurricular activity. For our organization, all things considered, this puts students' needs first, and that's what really matters."
Aligned also testified in favor of SB 5 (Koenig), which the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development also heard this week.
Aligned, Americans for Prosperity, Missouri Federation for Children, and the Quality Schools Coalition supported the bill. The MO NEA, MO State Teachers Association, MO School Administrators, and the MO Quality Education Institute opposed the bill.
Committee Hearings
This week was dominated by committee hearings (more below), the snowstorm (that wasn't), and big spending announcements from Governor Mike Parson's Administration for ARPA dollars (tidbits below).
Expect the Senate version of the Parents Bill of Rights to hit the Senate floor next week. In the House, the Rules Committee has noticed IP reform for executive session on Monday so we could see it on the floor early next week. The House General Laws Committee conducted a marathon hearing that lasted until 2 a.m. related to LGBTQ+ care. Read our recap.
Tidbits
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The NYT features Missouri-based Parents As Teachers for their efforts to combat Maternal Mortality.
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On Tuesday, Governor Mike Parson announced that the Department of Economic Development is awarding $261 million through the ARPA Broadband Infrastructure Grant Program to 60 recipients for projects that will expand and improve internet access statewide. Projects receiving funds are expected to create more than 55,000 connections in locations that previously lacked adequate internet access.
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On Tuesday, Governor Mike Parson announced that the Department of Economic Development is awarding $30 million through the ARPA Workforce Training Grant Program. The program is focused on helping companies address workforce shortages by recruiting and training Missourians to meet the workforce needs of a variety of industries including child care, health care, broadband deployment, manufacturing, and emerging technologies.
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On Wednesday, The Missouri Community Service Commission announced AmeriCorps has ranked Missouri as 10th in the nation for community service participation per capita, resulting in an estimated $3.1 billion impact to the state.
Read our full legislative report for the week of January 23rd.
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