Every once in a while a great idea shines so bright that most every legislator in Jefferson City instantly lends their support.
Most proposals, alas, live or die based not on their merit but upon which legislators – and, more importantly, which stakeholders – demand action.
Now comes Senate Bill 727. Senator Andrew Koenig (R – west county) proposed about a dozen pages of education items, some aimed at letting more tax dollars go to non-public schools: by the time it passed the House the text ran 153 pages with scores of really stupid stuffed spiced with a few whiffs of common sense.
SB 727 had more enemies than friends. The state school board association, teachers’ groups, the St. Louis and Kansas City school districts and others vehemently objected to numerous elements in the bill. No, raising starting teacher pay (if state money is available) from the current minimum of $25,000 per year to $40,000 wasn’t a problem, nor were changes to the process to approve a move to four day school weeks.
At its heart SB 727 increases the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program by millions of tax credit dollars per year, trading general revenue which mostly would have gone to public education to subsidies to private schools. The bill contains changes to teacher certification which make actually studying education in college less necessary. And, it expands charter schools to Boone County – over the objection of most of that county’s legislators.
In short, SB 727 is another big step in the move to have state education dollars follow the student (even to Cor Jesu Academy or home schoolers) instead of maintaining public school districts.
So, who wanted Koenig’s bill to pass?
- The Missouri Catholic Conference;
- Conservative groups supporting non-public schools and home schooling;
- A short list of influential Republican donors; and,
- The Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House.
The weekly Bulletin for what’s left of my church, St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Lemay, included a colorful half page titled Paying Missouri Taxes? Support Catholic Schools Instead…100% Tax Credits. [4/21/24]
Well, they passed SB 727. It takes 18 votes to carry in the 34 member Senate: Koenig’s bill received 19 votes.
It takes 82 votes to carry the 163 member House: SB 727 received 82 votes.
Despite Republican supermajorities in both chambers, the bill crawled to the finish line. The debate on both ends of the Capitol got very heated. Many rural Republican Senators argued, unsuccessfully, that their schools could see cuts to fund private schools in other areas. After the House vote Rep. Paula Brown (D – north county) asked how Missouri could afford SB 727’s $468 million price tag when bills costing less than a tenth as much were considered too expensive.
Let’s talk about Speaker of the House Dean Ploucher for a minute. Months ago a complaint on his spending and activities made it to the House Ethics Committee. Their investigation did not go well. The Speaker avoided the committee requests to meet with their attorney/investigator, refused to endorse the subpoenas they requested and then complained that the investigation was taking too long. “Never did I imagine the biggest impediment to this process would be the Speaker’s office,” chair Hannah Kelly (R – Mountain Grove) told the Missouri Independent.
She forgot that Dean Ploucher wants to be Missouri’s next Secretary of State – and that short list of influential Republican donors write big checks to state wide office candidates. And, the Catholic Church is increasingly an adjunct of the Republican Party.
This year’s sausage factory needs a good cleaning.
Glenn Koenen
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