Alisa Nelson, Author at Missourinet

Check out next week’s mega coronavirus vaccination events in Missouri

March 5, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Several state-organized mass coronavirus vaccination events are scheduled for next week throughout Missouri. They are planned in Pettis, Washington, Taney, Barry, Stone, Butler, Camden, Texas, Holt, Clinton, Dent, and St. Louis counties.

The state reports more than 1.4 million doses have been given so far – about 500,000 of those are people who have completed both doses.

A press release from Gov. Mike Parson’s office says starting next week, mass vaccination teams will begin transitioning operations to include a larger presence in Region A (Kansas City) and Region C (St. Louis). The press release says eventually, two teams will be operational in Region A and three teams will be operational in Region C. The state expects a full transition by April 1.

The state reports nearly 480,000 Missourians have tested positive for COVID-19 and 8,158 have died from the virus over the past year. Currently, 1,019 patients are in a Missouri hospital being treated for the coronavirus.

For more information about the vaccination events, go to mostopscovid.com.

Feds to prioritize teachers in retail pharmacy vaccine program

March 5, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

All Missouri K-12 public and private school workers will be eligible to get vaccinated beginning March 15. Nonprofit pre-K-12 staff, state-licensed childcare center workers, some food production employees, as well as grocery and convenience stores workers, will also become eligible at the same time.

Covid19 Pfizer vaccine with record card A Byrd/Missourinet

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) discussed the next phase of the state’s coronavirus vaccination plan Wednesday. Robert Knodell, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, says the federal government plans to encourage its retail pharmacy vaccination program participants to prioritize teachers.

“There may be an increase in supply headed to those pharmacies that are participating in that program with the intent of giving teachers that opportunity,” he says. “So, that is going to be a new wrinkle to this process. I do believe additional supply will be made available.”

President Joe Biden is challenging all 50 states to get teachers, school staff, and childcare workers their first shot by the end of this month.

In Missouri, participating retail pharmacies include Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Hy-Vee, Sam’s Club, and Health Mart.

Knodell says the state’s vaccine supply has increased from about 76,000 COVID-19 doses weekly in February to roughly 200,000 doses this week.

Adam Crumbliss, director of the Missouri Division of Community and Public Health, says there are guidelines for teachers working or living in another state.

“If they work in Missouri but reside in Oklahoma, for example, if you are doing a mass vaccination event for the entire workforce in your area, they can be participants in that event. But if you are asking them to essentially handle the vaccination on their own, they will need to do that in Oklahoma,” he says.

Crumbliss says he wants the education community to keep the following in mind.

“This is not a light switch that suddenly overnight vaccine is going to be available in principal fashion and every teacher in Missouri suddenly on March 15 is going to be vaccinated. We know that we want all staff in education – from the administration to the teachers, to the everybody that interacts, to the students, to the custodial staff – we want all of those individuals vaccinated but we need to make sure we are also planning and leaving some space for local public health agencies to hit those that have a substantially higher mortality risk. Those two groups currently right now are going to be those over 65 or those in minority populations,” says Crumbliss.

State Health and Senior Services Department Director Randall Williams was asked why the state is moving to the next phase on March 15 when people have not been vaccinated in some of the phases already activated.

“We’ve never been in a situation where we were like, ‘Well, we’ve got 10 nurses in Sedalia that need to be vaccinated. So, we need to wait on them before we can move into Phase 1B.’ It has always been meant to be more like a hill and not a cliff,” says Dr. Williams.

DESE is evaluating plans to provide COVID-19 tests through 2022.

Missouri Senators, K-12 community work to navigate underperforming school problems

March 3, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

The coronavirus pandemic’s increased challenges in education have fueled the Missouri Legislature’s efforts this session to make school choice measures a priority. Debate about these bills have been very heated at times.

Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications

On Tuesday, the Missouri Senate Education Committee and representatives of the state’s K-12 public education world instead had a heart-to-heart about ways to address academic achievement levels within public schools. Their discussion centered around a legislative bill that could close some underperforming K-12 public schools in Missouri.

The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, involves any public school performing within the bottom five percent of schools for more than three years over a five-year period. Districts would be required to close these schools and transfer students to a higher-performing one within the district; create a partnership to open an in-district charter school; or reimburse a district or charter school for taking in the transfer students.

Additionally, any district with more than two schools falling into the bottom five percent for more than two years would be classified as provisionally accredited.

O’Laughlin wants to require the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to publish online each year a list of Missouri schools performing within the bottom five percent of schools for more than three years and designate them as a “persistently failing school”.

Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, said there will always be a school and a district in the bottom five percent:

Eric Scroggins with St. Louis-based Opportunity Trust, a nonprofit organization funding charter schools, spoke in support of the plan:

Ron Berry, a lobbyist for the American Federation of Teachers, cited the towns of Lesterville, Calhoun, and Windsor. He said the communities have many low-income individuals with a revolving door of students moving in and out of those districts:

O’Laughlin, the committee chair, asked Berry for suggestions:

Sen. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, agreed with Berry. He recommended adding another step in the process to help prevent schools from closing:

Scott Kimble, with the Missouri Association of School Administrators, spoke in opposition to the bill:

Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said some districts are not investing their funding where they should:

Steve Carroll, lobbying for Kansas City area schools and St. Louis Public Schools, said he does not think the bill addresses the heart of the problem:

Razer agreed with Carroll:

Schupp said boosting teacher pay is not for its own sake:

Tammy Henderson with the North Kansas City School District said the district has 21,000 students with about fifty percent of them getting free or reduced-price meals. She shared some solutions that have worked in her district:

O’Laughlin and Schupp agreed the group should put their heads together:

O’Laughlin told Kimble the tone of the conversation needs to change:

The committee has not voted on Senate Bill 133.

Missouri voters could decide who sits on the state board of education – not the governor

March 1, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri voters could be asked to change the way state board of education members are selected. Representative Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, wants to let voters decide who sits on the board, instead of letting the governor appoint all members. In order to be a board member, the Missouri Senate is also currently required to sign off on the governor’s appointees if the Legislature is in session.

Rep. Dottie Bailey (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

During a House committee hearing, Bailey said her proposed Constitutional amendment would allow voters to choose board members during each general election of a presidential election year.

“We need this to be an accountable elected position because it’s so vital, especially right now. It was vital before COVID-19. Now it’s even more vital,” said Bailey. “It’s such a crucial job. Just like us, if we don’t do a good job, we get voted out. With the state of education in our state today, I just feel that this puts this into the mold of the rest of our state.”

Currently, no more than four of the eight board members can be from the same political party. That could change under the proposal. One member would be elected from each congressional district by the voters of the congressional district and one member would be elected by the voters of the state at large.

Rep. Ian Mackey, D-St. Louis, questioned Bailey about the intent of the proposal.

“Do you think partisanship in education overall is a good or bad thing,” asked Mackey.

“Well, lately I think it’s a bad thing,” said Bailey.

“But if it’s your partisanship, then it’s probably going to be a good thing because that’s what I’m hearing,” saud Mackey.

“No, I don’t necessarily think that at all. I think you need people that represent your constituents and their ideas and their wants,” said Bailey. “Not either Republican or Democrat. If it’s a fully Democratic Congressional district, fine. Send whoever you wish. I am all for that. No shade to the governor or past governors or future governors. It’s just a more complete representative type of government, which we have.”

“To me, that sounds like pretext for making the board more Republican leaning,” said Mackey.

“I get it. I guess in some instances that would be the case,” said Bailey.

Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, said he thinks school board races should be held during partisan elections.

“I don’t think it’s right that people can run for office and never declare what they subscribe to – what ideology they subscribe to, what they believe, how they think. They can just simply make a statement like, ‘I’m for the kids,’” said Baker.

Dr. Mary Byrne provided testimony for informational purposes. She suggested that members review information about Alabama’s elected state Board of Education.

“I would tell you that they are worse off than the state of Missouri,” she said.

Byrne said the committee should consider how much money lobbyists pour into U.S. Congress to pass education legislation. She also said foundations are seeding departments with former employees.

“You may think that you are getting power to the people but what you may be doing is opening the campaign contribution influence into elections of your state board members,” she said. “I don’t know if you are not going from the frying pan into the fire.”

Bailey’s plan does not currently lay out any campaign donation restrictions.

The measure would limit board members to two, four-year terms. Vacancies could be filled by the governor – as long as the Missouri Senate approves of them after appointed by the governor.

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday morning on Bailey’s proposal.

To check out House Joint Resolution 47, click here.

Missouri Senate committee to hear bill to close underperforming schools

March 1, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

The chair of the Missouri Senate Education Committee is proposing a bill that could shut down some underperforming K-12 public schools. Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, is targeting any Missouri public school performing within the bottom five percent of schools for more than three years over a five-year period.

Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin (Photo courtesy of Missouri Senate)

The committee O’Laughlin chairs will hear her legislation on Tuesday.

Under Senate Bill 133, districts would be required to close these schools and transfer students to a higher-performing one within the district; create a partnership to open an in-district charter school; or reimburse a district or charter school for taking in the transfer students an amount equal to the average per-pupil expenditure for the district. The legislation would involve underperforming schools as of 2018.

“I feel like what happens is a school might not be performing at even a decent minimal level and while there may be a few changes made or maybe there’s a plan of action, nothing really changes. And a person’s future is highly tied to how well they do in school,” O’Laughlin told Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly in December.

Additionally, any district with more than two schools falling into the bottom five percent for more than two years would be classified as provisionally accredited.

O’Laughlin’s bill would require the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to publish an annual list of Missouri schools that perform within the bottom five percent of schools for more than three years and designate them as a “persistently failing school”.

Tuesday’s hearing on Missouri Senate Bill 133 begins at 12:00 p.m.

Parson’s budget proposal aims to reduce Missouri Public Defender System wait list

February 28, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

A Missouri court has ruled that putting individuals on a waiting list to get public defender services violates state and federal law. Gov. Mike Parson’s state budget proposal aims to reduce the line of people waiting for these services. The system has nearly 400 lawyers handling about 90,000 cases annually.

Missouri House (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

During a House Budget Committee hearing, Missouri Public Defender System Director Mary Fox said the governor’s proposal asks for $1.1 million to hire 16 additional attorneys.

“The Public Defender System, which began in 1982, experienced extreme growth in the 1990s, when meth came to Missouri. That changed the number of crimes that were occurring in the state and the number that then came to the Public Defender’s attention. As the crime numbers increased, our staffing did not keep up,” she said.

Fox said the office has had a waiting list since 2017.

Last year, there were more than 5,800 cases on the wait list, compared to less than 2,000 now. Fox says the list has declined over the past year due to the coronavirus and by contracting out cases. She has also relocated some urban area positions to the rural parts of Missouri.

“When we hear about crime in Missouri, we often hear about crime in the urban areas. But the reality is that where our case numbers are growing, are in the outstate areas. In particular, in southeast Missouri and in southwest Missouri,” said Fox.

She said handling the cases in house is a cost savings to the state, as opposed to contracting them out. That includes fringe benefits.

“To reduce the wait list, that’s 12 attorneys. To actually eliminate those wait lists, it’s 27 attorneys,” said Fox. “And to get to the point where none of the offices are overloaded and that we can put our focus on doing our job as opposed to our staffing issues, it is 53 attorneys that we would need. This is just in the trial offices. But that is all we are requesting at this point. The trial offices is where the majority of our cases are and is where the majority of our case overload is.”

To hire a total of 53 attorneys, Fox says the overall budget need would be about $3.6 million.

She also said the state does not have a wealth of attorneys in many Missouri counties to contract cases out to. She referenced the Carter County office having three attorneys who were expected to all be gone on maternity leave around the same time.

“We were trying to figure out how we could rearrange resources to handle it,” she said. “We wanted to bring in a private attorney to Carter County to take on those cases. There were no attorneys in Carter County.”

To review the governor’s $34.1 billion budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning in July, click here.

Rescheduled mass vaccination events in Missouri

February 26, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Next week’s state-organized mass vaccination events in Missouri have been scheduled

Missouri has posted details about next week’s state-organized mass coronavirus vaccination events. Clay, Scotland, Henry, Jefferson, Jasper, Cape Girardeau, Cooper, Harrison, and Crawford Counties plan to hold clinics. Most of the events are for first-round shots.

There are also currently still openings for Saturday’s vaccination event in northern Missouri’s Unionville from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Missouri’s vaccination plan currently allows health care workers, long-term care staff and patients, first responders, those ages 65 and older, and ones with certain health conditions to get immunized.

For more information about these events, go to mostopscovid.com/events.

Missouri House narrowly passes private schooling tax credit bill

February 26, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

After years of attempts, the GOP-controlled state House has passed a bill that would allow donors to provide scholarships for students to attend a private Missouri K-12 school. In return, those donors would get state tax credits equal to the amount of their gift. The scholarships could also be used for tutoring, school supplies, and computer gear. The plan could cost the state up to $75 million annually.

Rep. Phil Christofanelli (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

House Bill 349 passed Thursday with 82 “yes” votes – the minimum number required for approval. There were 71 Representatives who opposed it. The House of Representatives is currently made up of 162 members.

Under the bill, students who would be prioritized would be those with special needs and those who qualify for free and reduce price school meals.

Only students living in a Missouri city with a population of 30,000 or more would qualify. For instance, students who attend catholic schools in Missouri towns like Moberly, Mexico, Monroe City, and Marshall would not be eligible for these scholarships.

Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, is sponsoring the measure.

“I don’t feel like we have ever tried anything new,” he said during debate. “We have heard a lot about how we could do more in this area or maybe we should look over here and just try to invest more in this particular program. And maybe all that’s true. But I believe it’s time to give several thousand children a chance at something new because what we’ve been doing, I think everyone has seen, has not been working.”

He referred to testimony about a Springfield girl, named Izzy, with disabilities who left her public school because it did not have wheelchair accommodations. Christofanelli said Izzy now attends a nearby catholic school that meets her needs.

“That’s not an indictment of her public school,” said Christofanelli. “Public schools have a broad mission and their goal is to try to serve everyone as best they can. The beauty of our system is that the private sector can accommodate sometimes special needs better than the government can because they have a different incentives structure.”

Rep. Doug Clemons, D-St. Ann, opposed the legislation.

“I’ve got to tell you, I just don’t give a rat’s left toe nail about private institutions. I was sent here by the people to work for the people on public institutions. Anybody sitting in one of these chairs has a responsibility to public institutions,” he said. “You know, I watched the testimony. I saw Izzy’s mom give her testimony. I believe every word that she said about her interaction with her public school and I think it’s a shame. I think it’s a shame that we have lost our responsibility in giving that school the resources it needs to meet her needs. That’s our responsibility.”

The legislation would also require the state to fund at least 40% of the projected amount to bankroll transportation aid to K-12 public schools. Clemons has a problem with that piece.

House Speaker Rob Vescovo (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

“We sit here and we talk about putting a trigger of 40% for transportation funding for our children as a goal, as if that’s some victory. What’s the matter with us? It should be funded 100%,” he said. “We’ve got rural children trying to get to school and these districts have to make up that money in their budget. A private institution is not responsible to us – not beholden to us. We have to meet the minimums for our children. A free market system is fine. Let those people be competitive. That’s fine. If they are more competitive than a public school, then let them earn their money.”

The state is currently funding K-12 transportation at about 33%. Up to 75% of these costs can be covered by the state.

In a rare floor speech, House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, was fired up. He said he dropped out of school when he was 16 years old.

“That was 28 years ago. What has changed in education in the state of Missouri in 28 years? Twenty-eight years, Mr. Speaker. What has changed? The only thing that has changed is we’ve gotten more and more special interests in this building that care about their own special interests. How are we going to fix our kids if we don’t do something,” he shouted.

He said there is nothing more positive in criminal justice reform than education.

“Why can’t we get these kids when they are 10 and 12 and 14 – when they need us to grab them and put them in a better learning environment than worrying about putting them in jail when they’re 16, 17, 18, and 19? I don’t want to grow my prisons. I want to grow my research department at Mizzou,” said Vescovo.

Rep. Allen Andrews, R-Grant City, was one of several Republicans who opposed the measure. Andrews is the House Republican Majority Whip.

Rep. Allen Andrews (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel, House Communications)

“I believe we as Missourian citizens, have a moral obligation to provide a good and basic education to all of our youth, from the richest to the poorest to the most costly to educate and the least costly to educate. We bombard our public schools with new responsibilities, even with the unfortunate breakdown and the devastating fracturing of the family. We insist that our schools compensate for society’s failures and neglect, all the while we demand they meet rising academic expectation. In this chamber, our sensitivity toward political correctness here and at home, many times deters us from addressing the root cause, which is undeniably backed up by data that the family is the greatest institution ever created. School vouchers, open enrollment, charter expansion, education savings accounts, or a plethora of other ideas cannot substitute and will absolutely not address the challenges faced within our public school system and will not accomplish that moral obligation of providing a good and basic education to all students. Students, our most vulnerable students, will be left in an educational system where funding has trickled away when the money follows the child. For those children that are left behind, for the least of these children, I stand today as their voice, asking that we stop the back and forth rhetoric and begin to address the root cause and begin to build legislation of substance for all children in this state – not only those with the ability to choose. Any attempt to chip away at the financial infrastructure of our public school system will have a negative effect on our ability to provide every young Missourian equal access to a good education.”

The legislation heads to the Senate for consideration.

Missouri vaccination update: Get ready teachers, childcare centers, grocery workers

February 25, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

The next tier of Missouri’s coronavirus vaccination plan will be activated on March 15. That means all teachers, faculty, and staff in public, private, and nonprofit pre K-12 will become eligible. So will state licensed childcare center workers, some food production employees, as well as grocery and convenience stores workers.

Missouri is currently vaccinating residents in Phase 1A, Phase 1B – Tier 1, Phase 1B – Tier 2.

During a press briefing today, Gov. Mike Parson says the next group to become eligible, Phase 1B – Tier 3, allows 550,000 additional Missourians to get vaccinated.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on February 4, 2021 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“Tier 3 represents another very important part of our society,” says Parson. “They are the workers in many of the industries we depend on each day to keep our day-to-day lives operating normally.”

Earlier this month, Missouri’s 2017-2021 Teachers of the Year sent a letter to state Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams asking him to prioritize educators and support staff for immediate coronavirus vaccinations. Missouri’s K-12 schools have been operating for months with at least partial in-person education.

The following is a statement from the Chair of Missouri’s Education Roundtable, Dr. Doug Hayter:

“The Education Roundtable, representing eight major education organizations in Missouri, appreciates Governor Parson’s announcement allowing educators to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. Getting educators vaccinated as soon as possible is an important step toward keeping educators in the classroom and providing our students with in-person instruction.”

Missouri’s Education Roundtable is made up of the American Federation of Teachers (Missouri), the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals, the Missouri Association of School Administrators, the Missouri National Education Association, the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, the Missouri School Boards’ Association, the Missouri State Teachers Association, and the Missouri PTA.

Parson says vaccine supply remains limited, but he expects slow and steady increases.

“We heard news this week that the pharmaceutical companies are increasing their production,” says Parson. “The federal government is planning to increase our allotment and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to be approved at any time.”

The governor says he expects that Missouri will be able to order vaccine from Johnson & Johnson by early next week.

He says if supply continues to improve, Parson says he thinks Phase 2 of Missouri’s vaccination plan will begin mid-April.

A press release today from Parson’s office says the state also continues to move forward with regional mass vaccination events. There have been 68 completed across Missouri, and more than 66,500 Missourians have received an initial vaccine dose at one of these events.

The release says targeted teams in St. Louis and Kansas City have completed 24 vaccine clinics with more planned in the coming days and weeks. These teams serve vulnerable populations in communities with limited access to health care.

For more information about the next tier of eligible Missourians, click here.

Missouri Senate puts off vote on giant K-12 education package

February 24, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

After about twelve hours of debate, the Missouri Senate refrained from voting overnight on a contentious K-12 public education package. There was some confusion towards the end that appeared to ultimately lead to the plan getting shelved – at least for now.

Several changes were made over the course of the day and night. As Senate bill 55 stands now, here is what it would do:

Missouri Senate

*Allow charter schools in any school district located within a charter county as well as in any Missouri city with a population greater than 30,000 people. Under the bill, charter schools could open in more than 50 districts statewide.

*Let parents use tax credits on things like private school tuition, school supplies, and tutoring. That portion could cost up to $50 million annually. This piece could only begin once state funding for K-12 public school transportation funding reaches 40%. According to Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, the current transportation funding level is at roughly 33%. The amount of tax credits available would also be tied to how much state aid is designated to schools annually.

*Cap Missouri superintendents’ total compensation at three times the average teacher pay within their district.

*Strip a district of state aid if it is a member of a statewide activities association that bans a home school student from participating in activities offered by the district or requires a home school student to attend the school to participate in any activity.

*State Board of Education members would be restricted to one, eight-year term.

*Penalize school districts if they do not get written permission from a parent or a legal guardian prior to handing out course materials or teaching about human sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases.

Two provisions originally in the bill were stripped out – a process to recall school board members and giving state aid for full-time equivalent online learning enrollment to a MOCAP virtual school provider.

School choice supporters have pointed to increased educational challenges students and families have dealt with during the coronavirus pandemic as a leading reason to not wait any longer to pass school choice measures.

Rowden has been working vigorously to get the bill passed.

“Everybody knows my passion for this and everybody knows I’d run through a wall to try to get this thing done,” said Rowden.

During floor debate, he said his sister is a principal at a religious school in Columbia.

Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, supports the bill.

“I don’t want to disparage teachers in any way shape or form because I think a lot of teachers feel the same way we do in that we have to be able to have that competition. We have to be able to kind of upset the apple cart in order to incentivize that they do better,” Brattin said. “I think a lot of these teachers receive a lot of misinformation to think that bills like this are literally the impending doom upon education as we know it.”

Brattin said from the time he started in the House to the time he left that chamber, he says the increase in state funding to education was more than $1 billion.

“Yet all I ever heard was how horrible we were, that we weren’t fully funding, that we weren’t up to par where we should be,” Brattin said.

Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, agrees.

“Our total budget here in Missouri is $30 billion. We could increase it to $100 billion and spend all that money on education,” said Koenig. “In five years from now, they’ll be crying that there’s not enough money.”

Koenig said traditional public schools do not work for all students.

“It’s not saying that every public school is bad,” said Koenig. “Actually, the opposite. A lot of these public schools are doing a great job. But for that 3%, they might something different – something that’s not offered at a traditional public school.”

During debate, Koenig also blasted several schools he said were underperforming.

Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, said she understands being responsive to what she describes as a once-in-a-century pandemic. But she said the Legislature should be careful.

“We are charged with making sure that we do everything we can to support the kids who haven’t had the greatest educational experience in the last year. I think this is an opportunity to reflect on what’s working and to see where there are opportunities for transformation. But that is one piece of a much broader discussion about how we’re going to approach education policy in the state for generations to come. I just don’t want to get too tied up in the fact that as a result of this event, that now we have to change everything in a way that’s just entirely reactionary,” said Arthur.

Bill sponsor, Republican Cindy O’Laughlin of Shelbina, said she agrees.

“I don’t think that we are suggesting that just because of this event, we have to change everything,” she said. “But I do think that this event has kind of exposed the differing levels of commitment and the differing levels of commitment to excellence and to student outcomes.”

O’Laughlin, the Senate Education Committee chair, sang a similar tune as Koenig.

“I just believe that sometimes a certain method works for some people, but it doesn’t work for others,” she said. “I don’t know why we would want to lock people into one thing, recognizing that maybe it just doesn’t work for them.”

Arthur said there are ways to create options without undermining the parts working in the current system.

Another opposing argument raised by the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA) is that charter schools should have the same accountability measures as traditional public schools.

Under current law, charter schools are allowed in Kansas City, St. Louis, and any unaccredited Missouri public school district. Charter schools are independent public schools that receive public and private money.

The MSBA also says that taxpayer-funded tax credits should not go to private schools if the schools are not held to the same accountability standards as their traditional public school counterparts.

To view Senate Bill 55, click here.