Bills at Spring Break 

The Missouri House and the Senate have been in recess this week due to the annual legislative spring break. Both chambers will return on Monday, with eight weeks remaining in the 2022 session. With less than half of the session remaining, many issues will face renewed urgency including work on the state budget, which will pass the House soon and be sent to the Senate.  The House has already sent a number of bills to the Senate, and while the Senate hasn’t sent as many bills over to the House as in previous years, there are education-related bills that sit on the Senate calendar awaiting debate. Below you will find the education related legislation working through the process going into the second half of session.   

House Bills: 

HB1814 (Pollitt) was passed by the House and sent to the Senate. The bill allows student open enrollment across the state. MSTA opposes HB1814 based on MSTA Adopted Resolutions which support each local school district developing a written policy for transfer and assignment of students within a district and to any other school district. MSTA remains opposed to the bill based on concerns that the bill is harmful for students and could lead to school consolidation that would impact students, families, and communities in Missouri. In addition to other issues in the bill, three main concerns remain:    

  • School Consolidation: HB1814 will lead to school consolidation at worst, and result in many districts struggling to maintain the educational programs they already offer such as FFA, choir, band and athletic programs.  

  • Special Education: HB1814 allows districts to deny students based on special education status. If the transfer district determines they cannot meet the special education student’s needs, districts are allowed to discriminate against special needs students.  

  • Financial Implications/anti-collaboration: HB1814 will pit schools against one another to compete for students and the funding associated with them. Funding that would normally go toward student learning would be spent on recruiting students and competing with neighboring districts.   

HB2304 (E. Lewis) was passed by the House and sent to the Senate, which would make changes to requirements for substitute teacher certificates and provide additional work after retirement opportunities for PSRS/PEERS system retirees.  

 HB2304 puts an alternative path into state law for individuals to obtain a substitute teaching certificate that is very similar to rules that were adopted by the State Board of Education in early November. Under current DESE rules and regulations, applicants may obtain a certificate with sixty college credit hours, or as a second path, with a high school diploma, General Education Diploma (GED) or High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) and the successful completion of a minimum of twenty clock hours of DESE-approved substitute teacher training that includes professionalism, honoring diversity, engaging students, foundational classroom management techniques, basic instructional strategies, supporting students with special needs and working with at-risk youth.   

Included in the bill is a provision that would waive the work after retirement limits for PSRS/PEERS retirees until June 30, 2025. HB2304 was included as an amendment to HB1750 (Basye). Both bills are now in the Senate and will continue through the legislative process, going to committee then possibly on the floor for debate before the full Senate.  

HB2366 (Shields) was passed by the House and sent to the Senate. It requires districts and charter schools to identify and provide services and programs for gifted children. The bill requires a district to establish a gifted education program if 3 percent or more are identified as gifted. School districts with an average daily attendance of more than 350 students are required to have a teacher certificated to teach gifted education. In districts with an average daily attendance of 350 or fewer, any teacher providing gifted instruction is not required to be certified to teach gifted education but must participate in six hours professional development per year regarding gifted services and the expense of the training will be paid by the school district.  

HB1552 (Richey) was passed by the House and sent to the Senate. The bill changes the funding process for charter schools, shifting funds away from local districts where charters are located.   

HB1750 (Basye) will need an additional vote in the House before it will be sent to the Senate. HB1750 is an omnibus education bill that now includes a large number of education governance related issues, including requiring each school board and charter school to adopt a policy on community engagement. 

HB1903 (Christofanelli) is on the House calendar and could be brought up for debate. The bill expands virtual education programs. MSTA opposes HB1903. MSTA adopted resolutions oppose public funding of virtual education without the oversight of a local education authority.   

 HB1903 would allow for an expansion of the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program (MOCAP). For students that enroll in full time virtual education programs, the resident district is required to pay online programs for the time a student is enrolled, regardless of completion.   

  MSTA has the following concerns related to HB1903:  

  •  Accountability: If students enroll and then leave a full-time virtual provider, the local district must still pay for any time in which the student was enrolled, even if they return to the resident district. The bill creates a scenario where students could enroll in a full-time online program, and the online provider could remove the student from their “school” leaving the local district responsible to assess and remediate any learning loss. According to the 2020‐21 Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program (MOCAP) Annual Report published by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, only 77 percent of students enrolled in virtual courses completed them.  
  •   Good Government: The bill removes a provision of the 2018 law that allows districts to negotiate a lower rate from the provider than the state education dollars paid to the district.   

  • Local Control: The bill removes the ability of local districts to work in collaboration with parents to ensure that online programs are suitable for the student and that services entitled to the student under state and federal law are available and accessible. The new gatekeeper under the changes to the bill become online providers who decide if students may enroll, stay enrolled, or sent back to the resident district if they don’t meet the virtual school’s academic expectations.  

Senate Bills: 

SB681 (O’Laughlin) was approved by the Senate and sent to the House. The legislation relates to improving reading and literacy instruction. The bill repeals retention requirements for struggling readers and requires schools to provide reading instruction, with appropriate evidence-based reading intervention in the elementary grades and with assessment and intervention beginning in kindergarten. The bill also requires systematic and explicit interventions for students with characteristics of dyslexia.  

The bill also includes a provision contained in SB662 (Arthur) that would give districts the opportunity to waive certain laws to improve opportunities for students.  

  The legislation specifically states that the State Board shall not authorize the waiver of any statutory requirements relating to teacher certification, teacher tenure or any requirement imposed by federal law.   

SB648 (Rowden) is on the Senate calendar and could be brought up for debate.  This legislation is very similar to HB1903 (Christofanelli) which would expand Missouri’s virtual education programs and remove accountability for students and taxpayers. MSTA opposes SB648. MSTA adopted resolutions oppose public funding of virtual education without the oversight of a local education authority.   

SB650 (Eigel) is on the Senate Calendar and could be brought up for debate. The bill would allow charter schools to be operated in any school district located within a charter county, as well as in any municipality with a population greater than 30,000. This includes possible expansion into any school districts in Jackson, St. Charles, St. Louis and Jefferson counties. In addition to any cities in those counties, school districts in the cities of Springfield, Columbia, St. Joseph, Joplin, Jefferson City, Cape Girardeau and Liberty could see charter schools open under this proposed expansion. MSTA opposes charter school expansion under current laws that fail to address accountability and oversight from members of the community in which they serve.  

Missouri legislative districts finalized 

After each decennial census, it is the responsibility of appointed panels to redraw legislative districts for the Missouri House and Missouri Senate. Gov. Parson appointed both Senate and House Redistricting Commissions to draw new maps last year. The House Commission came to an agreement and filed a map with the Secretary of State. The Senate Commission was unable to come to any agreement, which allowed the Missouri Supreme Court to appoint a judicial commission to draw new Missouri Senate district lines. The Judicial Redistricting Commission completed their work this week and filed new maps with the Secretary of State. These new boundary lines will be in place for the next 10 years.    

Candidates for the August 2, 2022 primary election began filing for office on February 22, filing will close at 5:00 on March 29.   

https://oa.mo.gov/sites/default/files/SOS%20Statewide%20Senate%20Districts.pdf  

https://oa.mo.gov/sites/default/files/2021-22_HIBCC_Statewide_0.pdf   

The Missouri General Assembly is responsible for creating new congressional maps. The legislation that would create the eight new congressional districts passed the House early in session but has been stalled in the Senate. With the close of candidate filing quickly approaching, litigation has been filed to address the lack of new congressional maps. 

School Board Elections   

Missouri will hold local school board elections on April 5, and you can be involved and make a difference to ensure that people who have the best interests of students and teachers are in a position to make decisions concerning public education. Each CTA can choose their own level of involvement in school board elections, ranging from not participating to fully endorsing a candidate. Other ways to get involved include hosting a candidate forum, administering questionnaires to candidates, interviewing candidates, endorsing candidates based on questionnaires and interviews and input from your entire CTA, and actively campaigning for candidates.    

 There are several things that all education employees must remember regarding political activities. Missouri teachers are prohibited by state law from serving as a treasurer or campaign manager for a school-board candidate in a school district employing the teacher. Education employees must always refrain from engaging in political activities using any district resources, including email and no political activity may take place during school hours. Please make sure you follow these important rules and if there are any funds raised or used to support a candidate, there may be certain reporting requirements under law and rule of the Missouri Ethics Commission.