Will this be the year Missouri moves to an open‑enrollment school system?
A proposal advancing out of the Missouri Senate Education Committee this week has renewed that debate.
Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, told Missourinet that a statewide open‑enrollment system would force school districts to compete against each other for students.
“When resources are tighter than ever, the last thing we need are school districts having to spend more of their money on marketing and on recruitment and on overhead versus expenditures going directly into the classroom to impact students’ education,” said Nurrenbern.
Supporters argue the plan would let families—regardless of income—choose the public school that best fits their kids.
Nurrenbern said she wants to focus on initiatives that she said genuinely improve student outcomes.
“We have yet to see any indicators from any other state across the nation that has passed open enrollment that truly improves student achievement,” said Nurrenbern. “And that’s where we’re at on this bill right now.”
The measure—backed by Sen. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield includes limits on how many students a district must allow to transfer out, starting at 3 percent of the previous year’s enrollment. The bill now moves to the full Senate for debate.
As the bill is written now it would give schools a choice to participate.
A link to the bill. https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=350
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