MISSOURI, USA — Bills seeking to expand charter schools into three Missouri counties were approved Monday by the House Special Committee on Education Reform.
The proposals were combined into one substitute bill after the committee voted to adopt an amendment by the committee chair, Rep. Bishop Davidson of Republic. Committee members voted 7-2 in favor of the bills, with one member voting present.
The bills — sponsored by Republican Reps. Brad Christ of St. Louis, Justin Hicks of Lake St. Louis and Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch of Hallsville — are identical in language except for population provisions to accommodate each of the sponsors’ districts.
The bills aim to expand access to charter schools to St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Boone County.
Reisch said she wasn’t too hopeful about the measure advancing in the Senate.
“I have no faith in the (Senate),” she said, “or hopes that they can get anything done this year.”
But she was supportive of Davidson’s amendment.
“By combining three bills into one,” she said, “it will give it a better chance because it affects a broader base of students and parents and constituents.”
The bill’s fiscal note shows an estimated cost of $2.8 million to $13.3 million, depending on the number of charter schools created and the number of students choosing to enroll.
The average cost per student for the 2022-2023 school year for Columbia Public Schools was slightly less than $14,000. Because charter schools are public schools and are funded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, expenditures will follow the student if they transfer out of a district school and into a charter school.
“Am I a huge fan of charter schools? Not necessarily,” Reisch said. “I think it’s just another choice for the parents to have.”
Voting against the measure, Democratic state Rep. Kevin Windham of Hillsdale expressed disappointment.
“I’m dismayed that we can expand charter schools or propose to expand charter schools in Missouri … but we didn’t look hard enough to find the problems with the current charter school system,” Windham said.
Charter schools in Missouri were first authorized in 1998 with the passage of legislation sponsored by then-Sen. Ted House, a Democrat from St. Charles. The measure limited their operation to metropolitan or urban school districts within a city with populations of more than 350,000 people. Each of the three bills voted on Monday accommodates that cap by including a provision that adjusts population figures to their proposed region.
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.
This story from the Missouri Independent is published on KSDK.com under the Creative Commons license. The Missouri Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy.
