JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Legislation supported by Democrats and Republicans that aims to fix the school transfers crisis facing schools in the St. Louis-area is nearing final passage, despite opposition from Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.
Nixon on Tuesday drew a line in the sand against a provision of the bill that would allow local tax dollars to be used for students transferring to private, non-religious schools. In the conference committee, that provision was limited to only St. Louis and Kansas City. The Missouri Senate passed sent Senate Bill 493 to the House on Wednesday by a 28-3 vote.
“The important reason why we’re here is for the kids,” said Senate Education Committee Chairman David Pearce, R-Warrensburg. “’No’ is not leadership.”
The bill was opposed by three Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Jolie Justus, Sen. Paul Levota, and Sen. Jason Holsman, all from Kansas City. If the bill is vetoed and comes up during an override attempt, however LeVota agreed with Pearce that those are “two different votes.”
Sen. Scott Sifton, a St. Louis Democrat, said if Nixon were to veto the bill, he should immediately call a special session so the transfer issue can be addressed before students return to school in August.
Missouri’s school transfer law was upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court last summer. It has allowed a couple thousand students to transfer from unaccredited districts like Normandy and Riverview Gardens to better performing school districts in the St. Louis region. The law, which requires the sending school to foot the bill for much of the transfer costs, has stressed the budgets of the failing school districts.
The broader bill would remove the requirement for the sending school to cover the costs of transportation, but how much they would have to pay for tuition would be covered by the receiving school district. If they were to transfer to a private, non-sectarian school district, local tax revenue would cover tuition.
On Tuesday, with just three days left in the legislative session, Nixon announced his opposition to the provision.
“Keeping public funds in public schools has been a core belief,” Nixon said. “The legislature is currently considering a bill that would violate that fundamental principle. Using public money for prate schools would destabilize the strong foundation on which public schools stand. It would open the flood gates for a voucher scheme.”
The bill needs another vote in the House to be sent to the governor’s desk.