Governor Parson Signs SB727 

On Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson signed the education omnibus bill SB727 into law. The legislation includes many items that are MSTA legislative priorities, as well as components that could be harmful. Here's everything you need to know about the new law and how it will affect Missouri educators. 

The Missouri State Teachers Association would like to thank Gov. Mike Parson for his support and dedication to raising Missouri teacher’s salaries and delivering a big win for educators during Teacher Appreciation week.   

Raising the minimum teacher salaries and codifying Governor Parson’s grant program into law in Senate Bill 727 ensures his efforts are preserved during the next administration and beyond. We wouldn’t be here without his original proposal and a commitment from the legislature to fund the grant program both in the past and moving forward. Increasing the minimum teacher salary has positively impacted countless families across the state and benefits Missouri students and communities. Under this legislation, those minimum salaries will not stagnate as they have in the past.  

“Missouri’s professional educators continue to deliver results far beyond the pay and respect they have received over the past several years,” said Bruce Moe, Executive Director of the Missouri State Teachers Association. “This step forward in both law and funding shows the legislature is committed to supporting students by ensuring there is a quality educator that meets them in their classroom each day. No legislation is perfect, but support for increasing teacher salaries, changes to the career ladder program, expansion of early childhood education and scholarships for future educators to address teacher recruitment issues were priorities that MSTA members supported and advocated to send to Gov. Parson’s desk.”  

These initiatives are crucial for enhancing teacher recruitment and retention by ensuring educators have the resources, support and compensation they deserve. MSTA's mission, "to advocate for and empower public educators so they can teach," underscores the association's dedication to creating a positive environment for teachers and students alike.  

MSTA created a video and webpage to help members navigate the issues and included a timeline for when portions of the bill will become law.   

State Budget Sent to Gov. Parson Prior to Deadline 

On Thursday, the Missouri Senate finally took up and passed the FY 2025 Operating Budget for the State of Missouri. After a series of delays and negotiations that have taken place during the last several weeks, a bipartisan group of senators, working with budget leaders in the House of Representatives, crafted a state budget that was able to receive bipartisan agreement in the Senate. 

On Friday, the House of Representatives took up the negotiated budget bills from the Senate and approved the changes. The budget bills passed without the usual overwhelming bipartisan support this year as many House members were upset with the process, feeling it lacked the transparency and compromise that is usually present. Despite fear that a budget may not be passed, it was Truly Agreed and Finally Passed on Friday, just hours before their constitutional deadline to do so and sent to the Governor’s desk.

The final version of HB2002 (Smith) contains appropriations for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and pre-K through 12 education.   

The FY 2025 budget includes continued full funding of the Foundation Formula and the transportation categorical, which provide the majority of funding for public schools. Continued full funding of these items is vitally important to teacher recruitment and retention in Missouri. As we have previously shared in MSTA Action, this year there is an increase in the State Adequacy Target (SAT) for the first time since 2020 - the first significant increase since the cap on formula growth was put back on in 2017. This year, the SAT increases from $6,375 to $6,760, adding an additional $120.6 million to fund public education. Transportation will also now be fully funded for the third year in a row in the amount of $361,366,614. This is a dramatic increase from FY 2022 when only $113,947,713 was allocated for the same purpose. Unlike the increases in the foundation formula, which doesn’t provide additional funding to hold harmless districts, the increases in transportation goes to each and every district providing additional funds that can be used to increase teacher pay.  

The final version of the budget also includes $33.4 million in funding for the Teacher Baseline Salary Grant, which is enough to guarantee that every district in the state has the opportunity to raise the minimum salary of all teachers to $40,000. With the approval of SB727, which cements the new minimum salary and the grant program into state law for FY 2025, the legislature has taken significant steps toward bolstering support for educators in Missouri. HB2002 also included $69.3 million to fund the Career Ladder program, adding back in money that was reduced by the House based on what they believed usage would be. MSTA has continued to advocate for this funding and to make sure budget leaders maintain a level of funding that is sufficient to ensure all Career Ladder participants are awarded the full amount.   

In addition to those sources of funding, the budget for DESE also includes $1.31 billion in distributions from the School District Trust Fund. This funding comes from the revenues generated by a state-wide one cent sales tax (Proposition C), which is collected locally, transmitted to the state and then passed on to school districts based on an amount per prior year Weighted Average Daily Attendance (WADA) amount. In supplemental budget bill HB2015 for the current fiscal year ending on June 30, the legislature approved the distribution of an additional $86 million to public schools in Prop C funds.   

One Week Remains in Legislative Session  

The Missouri General Assembly will adjourn at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 17. The legislature passed the FY25 budget, but still needs to pass an extension of the Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) tax. The FRA, also known as the Provider Tax, is a tax paid by Missouri hospitals, nursing homes and ambulance districts to cover the state's share of Medicaid expenditures. This provides more than $4 billion in direct and federal matching funds and is critical to balancing the state budget. Without an extension of the FRA, the legislature and governor may be faced with the need for substantial budget cuts.  

MSTA would also like to see the passage of one more important piece of legislation, SB898 (Black). 

SB898 (Black) is on the House calendar and can be brought up for debate at any time. The bill includes changes to work-after-retirement penalties and an increased retirement multiplier for 33 years of service. MSTA testified in support of the SB898 based on MSTA Adopted Resolutions.