Missouri School Boards' Association Archives

Missouri State Representative Roeber still recovering from vehicle crash

May 13, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House Speaker says a state lawmaker who was seriously injured in a March head-on collision will need to learn to walk again.

State Rep. Rebecca Roeber, R-Lee’s Summit, speaks on the Missouri House floor on May 12, 2017 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Missourinet that State Rep. Rebecca Roeber, R-Lee’s Summit, continues to recover. Roeber is no longer at MU Health Care in Columbia.

“Representative Roeber is now back in the Kansas City area, she continues to receive treatment but at least my understanding is her need for surgeries are done,” Haahr says.

The March collision happened on Highway 50 in west-central Missouri’s Syracuse. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Roeber crossed the center line on Highway 50 and struck a second vehicle.

Roeber, who was first elected to the House in 2014, chairs the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. She will not return to the Capitol this session, which ends Friday at 6 p.m.

Meantime, legislation that would allow charter schools to expand to Missouri cities and charter counties with a population larger than 30,000 is finished for the year.

Chairwoman Roeber is the House sponsor. Her bill is House bill 581.

House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon, tells Missourinet the bill was removed from the House calendar because of the amount of time it sat in the calendar and was not brought up for debate.

Speaker Haahr told Missourinet recently the bill already faced an uncertain future with Roeber out. He noted that charter school legislation would have probably have had come through the Senate first, where it’s already been filibustered.

“If not, we always have next year to work on that issue,” says Haahr.

Proponents of charter school expansion legislation include the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the organization Excellence in Education in Action. Supporters say school choices benefit all in society and that expansion will give more children an opportunity to attend schools that meet their needs.

Bill opponents include the Missouri School Boards Association and the Missouri State Teachers Association. Opponents say removing students from public education impacts the overall district and that the fiscal impact of charter school expansion will hurt public school funding and programs.

Under current law, charter schools are only allowed in St. Louis, Kansas City and an unaccredited school district. Charter schools are publicly-funded schools which operate independently of traditional public schools.

Education groups, others re-iterate arguments against tax cut bill veto override

September 10, 2013 By Mike Lear

A coalition of groups supporting the governor’s veto of tax legislation has made its case in the final hours before the legislature has its chance at a veto overturn. The Coalition for Missouri’s Future says allowing the bill that would cut Missouri income taxes to become law would jeopardize funding to the state’s public school and higher education.

Doctor Carter D. Ward (at podium), Executive Director of the Missouri School Boards Association addresses the media for the Coaltion for Missouri's Future, discussing both groups' opposition to HB 253.

Doctor Carter D. Ward (at podium), Executive Director of the Missouri School Boards Association addresses the media for the Coalition for Missouri’s Future, discussing both groups’ opposition to HB 253.

Missouri School Boards’ Association President-Elect Doug Whitehead says the legislation, HB 253, would force budget cuts.

“There will be teacher layoffs, overcrowded classrooms and longer bus rides to-and-from school. This bill has the potential to halt technology upgrades, eliminate many after school activities such as sports programs and limit the variety of classes available to Missouri students.”

The President of the Student Association at the University of Missouri Nick Droege says a tax cut bill vetoed by the Governor “represents a threat to Mizzou and its students.”

“Higher education is one area that faces the deepest cuts and toughest budget times that we’ve seen time after time after time. With an $800-million state shortfall higher education would be forced to make difficult decisions that include tuition increases, cutting staff and faculty, decreased wages or even enrollment caps.”

Association Executive Director Carter Ward says the Association does not oppose the concept of cutting taxes, but calls this legislation irresponsible.

“The overriding thing is that we’re not going to put our state in a downward trend of financial support for those obligations that we have committed to Missourians through previous legislatures or through other policy.”

Whitehead says before discussing cutting taxes, he wants to see priority given to fully funding the foundation formula for public schools.

“That’s the law of the land and the statute and that’s what we would like to see happen.”

Supporters say the cuts in the bill would not kick in until revenue increases by 100-million dollars, year-to-year. The Coalition says that trigger only offers a false sense of security. Ward says the Association has no confidence in it…

“In fact that trigger doesn’t even apply to many of the provisions that are in the bill.”

The veto session begins tomorrow at noon.

Filing for school board elections begins next week

December 7, 2009 By Steve Walsh

Running for public office is not restricted to statewide offices, State Senators, State Representatives, and other so-called political positions. Filing will soon open for Missourians who want to serve on school boards.

The Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA) is reminding those who want to play a role in shaping the future of schools and education at the local level to consider filing to run once the candidate filing period for the April elections begins on December 15th for most districts in the state and on December 22nd for Kansas City school districts. [Read more…]