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Aligned Weekly Update



January 27, 2023

Envisioning a scenario where all boats rise

Governor Mike Parson released his proposal for early childhood education at his annual State-of-the-State address. Aligned was thrilled to see plans for a historic commitment to Missouri's youngest citizens. Our organization has worked for a decade to raise awareness of the importance of high-quality early learning experiences and supported policies to strengthen our child care infrastructure.


There is an inherent tension between those who provide school-based early learning and those who offer provider-based programs because resources tend to be scarce. However, the governor's proposal outlines a scenario where all boats can rise.


During the House Subcommittee on Education Appropriations, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education representatives presented their departmental budget requests. Assistant Commissioner Pam Thomas, who leads the Office of Childhood, reminded members that "early childhood is the strongest, biggest infrastructure investment that our state can make." She explained that a strong parent education program and a high-quality early learning experience received between ages 3 and 5 prepares a child for academic and social success.


Those experiences happen in various settings, including at home, child care centers, and school-based settings. That's why Missouri has worked to build a mixed-delivery system that meets the needs of all families.


The expansion of Pre-K includes $56 million in new funding. While the dollars will flow through districts and charter schools, full utilization will only happen if public schools form partnerships with community-based child care providers. We have seen the tremendous success of these cooperative arrangements in Kansas City and St. Louis and anticipate incredible opportunities in our rural communities where early childhood programming is often limited.


This proposal aims to make high-quality early childhood education accessible for all children from families with low incomes. It's a game-changing opportunity that will benefit all Missourians, and it's incumbent upon all of us who advocate for children not to let this opportunity pass us by. 

Missouri Update

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



  • The NYT features Missouri-based Parents As Teachers for their efforts to combat Maternal Mortality.
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • 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.

Status Report - Aligned Priorities


Aligned supports most legislation that fits within our six core principles. Hearings are just getting underway and we will report on the progress of all legislation we support and offer testimony throughout session. Below is a status update on our top priorities.


Early Childhood


HB 833 (Shields) - Changes provisions governing early childhood education programs. Read Second Time (1-19-23) NO CHANGE


HB 870 (Shields) - Authorizes the "Child Care Contribution Tax Credit Act", the "Employer-Provided Child Care Assistance Tax Credit Act", and the "Child Care providers Tax Credit", related to tax credits for child care. Read Second Time (1-19-23) NO CHANGE


SB 495 (Eslinger) - Same as HB 833 - Introduced and Read First Time (1-17-23) NO CHANGE


SB 509 (Arthur) - Same as HB 870 - Introduced and Read First Time (1-17-23) NO CHANGE


Teacher Recruitment and Retention


HB 190 (Lewis) - Allows school districts to create differentiated teacher salary schedules. Referred to House committee on Elementary and Secondary Education (1-25-23)


HB 497 (Lewis) - Modifies the Urban Flights and Rural Needs Scholarship Program. Read Second Time (1-5-23) NO CHANGE


School Finance Reform


SB 17 (Arthur) - Modifies terms used in the elementary and secondary school funding formula. Referred to Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development on 1-12-23. NO CHANGE

Kansas Update

House hears tax credit bill for student scholarships


The House K-12 Education Budget Committee held a two-hour hearing this week on House Bill 2048, which would expand a program that offers state tax credits for donations to private-school scholarships. Another proposal is expected to introduced this session that would allow students to use their state aid from property taxes paid to be used for private school education. 


Representative Kristey Williams introduced House Bill 2132 in the House Appropriations Committee, which proposes to expand the fields of study to include transportation in the Kansas Promise Act. This program, passed in 2021, provides service scholarships for students to attend Kansas community colleges and Kansas technical colleges in specific high demand fields of study. In addition to the expansion of the field of studies there are amendments to clarify some of the fund provisions. 


Budget Update


Senate Ways and Means Committee heard from the Kansas Department of Education about mental health initiatives in Kansas K-12 schools. A pilot program has been in place for a few years now where mental health services in schools are provided to students and staff. The number of school districts taking part in this program continues to increase. Updates on the KU Cancer Center, and inmate work programs were also on the Ways and Means schedule. 

All the deets on the early childhood plan

Aligned and Kids Win Missouri presented Governor Parson's policy proposals during a virtual lunch and learn today. If you missed our presentation you can view the slide deck here and read the governor's memos on the Pre-K expansion and tax credit proposals.


During our presentation, we reiterated that there is no perfect policy, especially for child care and early childhood education. However, we have a once-in-a-generation funding opportunity for our entire early childhood system in Missouri and will work to ensure that the policy benefits all stakeholders, especially our children.


All the best,

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Torree Pederson

President

Aligned

Torree@WeAreAligned.org

(913) 484-4202

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Linda Rallo

Vice President

Aligned

Linda@WeAreAligned.org

(314) 330-8442

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