This week the members of the Missouri House came together to pass a truly monumental piece of education reform legislation. The bill addresses not only the pressing transfer issue that resulted from last year’s Supreme Court decision but also provides substantive reforms to put our struggling school districts on track for future success.
The transfer of students from Normandy and Riverview Gardens districts is a result of a law passed in 1993 that allows young people to move into higher performing districts and requires the districts they are leaving to pay the costs of the transfer. While we want students to have the opportunity to pursue better educational opportunities, we also have to balance that against the potentially devastating financial impact a huge number of transfers can have on these districts that are already struggling. Keep in mind the legislature had to approve $2 million in supplemental funds this year to keep the Normandy School District afloat. We also want to ensure the receiving districts are properly staffed and equipped to handle the new students they receive.
The bill we passed this week tackles this extremely complex issue in a way that addresses many of the concerns from those on both sides of the discussion. The bill would prevent the instant mass exodus of students from an unaccredited district by requiring students to attend an unaccredited school for one semester before transferring. It also would allow individual schools to be accredited rather than just the district as a whole, and it would establish a regional educational authority to oversee transfers to better schools within the district first and then to neighboring districts if necessary. The goal is to keep kids as close to home as possible while still providing them with the best possible education.
The bill also attempts to keep costs in check by capping the amount an unaccredited district must pay for a transferring student at 70 percent of tuition costs. The district also would be responsible for providing additional funds for transportation costs. To assist the receiving district, the bill would allow them to establish their own policies to limit class sizes and student-teacher ratios. The bill would then allow them to not accept transfers in instances where they would violate these established policies. With this we attempt to solve two of the bigger problems that currently exist with our existing transfer law.
Another key provision in the bill would add an option to allow students in these failing districts in St. Louis and Kansas City to transfer to private, nonsectarian schools. The bill would allow public dollars to follow students to these private schools, which is something that drew concerns from some of my colleagues. However, to address these concerns, provisions were added to mandate that private schools who accept public dollars follow the same set of rules that govern public schools. It also would prevent private schools who receive these dollars from charging any additional tuition to parents of transferring students. This solution is one that gives additional options to students trying to escape struggling schools.
The transfer bill is extremely complex in its details but it has the simple goal of giving kids the chance to have the kind of quality educational experience we want every young person to have. It is a piece of legislation that represents months of work and a great deal of compromise. It represents a good faith effort on the part of the legislature to provide a real world solution to an extremely pressing problem. Because we made several changes to the bill in the House it must now go back to the Senate for approval. If the Senate decides not to approve our changes, we will then go to conference where selected members from both chambers will meet to find a compromise.
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