JEFFERSON CITY — Sweeping education legislation that cleared the Missouri Senate on Thursday would mean hundreds of millions of dollars in new education spending annually, Republicans and Democrats said.
Democrats adamantly opposed original Republican plans to allow more independent charter schools in the St. Louis area and expanded eligibility for the MOScholars voucher program, which pays for private religious school expenses.
Republicans ditched the charter expansions envisioned for St. Louis and St. Charles counties on Monday but kept an expansion of charter schools for Boone County, home of Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia.
Additional funding for public schools helped sweeten the deal for Democrats, who ended a blockade and allowed an initial vote Tuesday on revamped legislation. All Democrats present still voted against final passage of the bill Thursday.
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In all, the legislation given final approval could amount to more than $400 million annually in new education costs once fully implemented, Democratic and Republican leaders estimated.
“We think the package ... is probably somewhere in the $450 million range,†Rowden said.
“Many of these improvements to the legislation came through bipartisan negotiations,†said Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City. “It’s the result of years of having conversations around these issues.â€
The legislation now goes to the House, which has taken a different approach to school-choice issues this session, only narrowly approving an open-enrollment plan for public school students to be able to transfer out of their home districts.
When the Legislature originally approved the MOScholars program in 2021, proponents in the House compromised with rural Republican lawmakers to gain support. One of the concessions was to place geographic restrictions on the program.
One of the key elements of the plan for Senate Republicans this year is taking the MOScholars program statewide.
Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, who sponsored the original MOScholars plan in 2021, said Thursday that “it’s always a challenge to pass an education bill†but that “what the Senate has created is the most substantial investment in Missouri’s education system in my entire eight years in office.
“There is a lot to love in this bill if you are a traditional public school. There’s a lot to love if you are a parent looking for choices and options for your kid outside of the traditional public school system,†he said.
Additions to the final bill include more state support for pre-kindergarten, raising teacher pay in state statute, increasing the number of teacher recruitment and retention scholarships, and changing how school aid is calculated that so that a school’s enrollment and attendance are factored into the formula.
“Currently schools are funded on attendance, ignoring the reality of fixed costs ... involved in operating a school,†said Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City.
She said a hybrid approach in the funding formula that considers enrollment and attendance will boost public school funding by about $228 million each year.
In addition, the legislation doubles an annual small schools grant from $15 million to $30 million, and creates an Elementary Literacy Fund of no more than $5 million each year for elementary home-reading programs.
An addition pushed by Sen. Doug Beck, D-south St. Louis County, would send bonus state aid to school districts maintaining a five-day school week.
The legislation increases the income level to qualify for the MOScholars Empowerment Scholarship Accounts from 200% of the household income limit for free and reduced lunch to 300% — or $166,500 for a family of four.
“The most important part to me is a statewide ESA program, raising that threshold for the middle class,†said Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, the bill sponsor.
With the state constitution for private religious schools, lawmakers make no direct appropriation to private religious schools.
Instead, the 2021 legislation created Educational Assistance Organizations that accept tax credit-eligible donations and then provide scholarships for students. The vast majority of program participants have attended private religious schools.
Democrats had also pushed for additional accountability measures for the existing MOScholars voucher program, which was first approved in 2021.
The House-bound plan requires the state treasurer to post certain MOScholars information online, including the number of students awarded MOScholars scholarships to date and the amount of scholarship money paid each year to qualifying schools.
The proposal approved Thursday would cap the tax credits at $75 million annually and then tie future increases to “an amount equal to the percent increase or decrease in the amount of state aid distributed to school districts.â€
Even though lawmakers have budgeted more money in recent years to raise teacher salaries, state statute still sets the minimum teacher salary in Missouri at $25,000 per year.
That would increase to $40,000 for the 2025-26 school year.
Teachers with master’s degrees and at least a decade of experience could be paid no less than $46,000 that year, increasing to $48,000 by 2027-28.
Starting in 2028-29, the law would require inflationary increases when the Consumer Price Index in January increases at least 1% over the prior year; but inflationary raises won’t exceed 3%, the measure says.
The legislation is Sena