JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon again railed against the “private option” included in the legislature’s bill aiming to address the school transfers crisis facing St. Louis and Kansas City, but stopped short of saying whether he would veto the bill.

The legislation – Senate Bill 493 – includes a provision that would allow students in unaccredited school districts to transfer to private, non-religious schools. The provision is targeted directly at St. Louis and Kansas City, and is part of a broader bill aiming to address the crisis facing schools like the Normandy School District.

“The legislature has had three years to deal with this issue,” Nixon said. “Experimenting with vouchers isn’t a solution to this.”

Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, has said the provision is necessary to get the measure through the Senate, where conservative Republicans could easily filibuster a measure without it. To the point that a private option is necessary in the bill to pass the Senate, Nixon said, “they’re not trying hard enough.”

Asked about whether he would consider calling a special session of the legislature to deal with the school transfer issue before classes resume in August, Nixon said the bill will be subject to an expedited review process.

“Because of the timeframes involved, we’ll get this to the top of the list,” he said.

The broader transfers 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.