Weekly Update

January 26, 2024

State Representative Brenda Shields (R-St. Joseph) joined by Aligned's Garrett Webb, presented her Pre-K bill in committee this week.

Shields makes strong case for Pre-K expansion

This week at the Missouri State Capitol, Representative Brenda Shields, a longtime champion of early education and former business leader, led a coalition of nearly a dozen respected statewide organizations to present HB 1486, which would remove the cap on Pre-K funding for 4-year-olds and expand a voluntary opportunity for children classified as "low-income", meaning they qualify for free- and reduced lunch (FRL).

"Research shows that 85% of a child's brain is developed in the first thousand days of life, and 90% is developed by the age of five," said Shields. "Knowing this, it is evident that our greatest return on investment occurs when we start education early and even more so when we provide these services to low-income students."

Currently, districts are allowed to draw funding based on 4% of their FRL population, and the law limits many districts from these dollars based on how they receive money through the foundation formula.

Dr. Kari Monsees, deputy commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), explained that one of the bill's intentions is to balance the opportunity regarding early childhood funding across the state.

"Not every school district gets the same amount of support for their pre-K funding. For example, we've got about 200 districts across the state that are hold harmless within that foundation formula and they may get zero additional funds for their pre-K programs or a very limited amount of funds because of their whole harmless status in the formula," said Monsees. "So part of the language here is intended to open that up and broaden that opportunity. So where every community's on the same playing field when it comes to funding for this particular program."

Tammy Henderson, the executive director of community relations for the North Kansas City School District, the second largest in the state, explained that nearly half of the children they serve come from low-income families. With this bill, they would be able to serve an additional 380 students, and that would make a measurable difference.

"We have found that when you move into kindergarten, there's a reading readiness assessment that DESE requires you to give. We have found that the kids who've been through our pre-K are testing at above the district average," said Henderson.

Testifying in support: Aligned, The Missouri Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Kids Win Missouri, Quality Schools Coalition, North Kansas City School District, The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Missouri Association of School Administrators, Missouri YMCA, Missouri State Teachers Association, and the Missouri School Boards Association.

Testifying in opposition: Armorvine

About Aligned

Aligned is the only state-wide non-profit, nonpartisan business group working in Kansas and Missouri on educational issues impacting the full development of our children, from supporting high-quality early learning to solid secondary programs that provide rigorous academic programs and real-world learning opportunities.

Our vision is that our public education systems in Kansas and Missouri have the resources and flexibility to prepare students to pursue the future of their choice.

We are currently focused on education policies that will strengthen early childhood education, teacher recruitment and retention, and school finance reform.

Learn more about our work.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson delivers the annual State of the State address in the House chamber of the House of Representatives. Seated behind the governor are Speaker of the House Dean Plocher and Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe.

Missouri News

Governor highlights investments in education in final SOTS address

On Wednesday, Governor Mike Parson delivered his final State of the State Address, focusing mainly on the achievements of his administration and the trajectory he believes they have placed Missouri on.

Notable achievements included streamlining state agencies and consolidating specific state departments to serve Missourians better; the unprecedented clearing of more than 3,700 applications for clemency while reshaping the state judiciary and appointing more female judges to the Missouri Supreme Court than ever before; and, of course, his signature investments in state infrastructure, including securing funding to construct or replace more than 1,000 bridges and repairing 50% of Missouri’s state highways.

Additionally, he highlighted a more than $700 million increase for K-12 education funding over his six years in office and raising the minimum teacher salary by $10,000, plus the creation of over 110,000 new jobs, $14.5 billion in new business investments through nearly 685 new business projects, and reducing the income tax by 20% with three separate tax cuts.

Finally, the governor laid out his top three legislative proposals for the 2024 session:

a bipartisan proposal to create three new tax credit programs to expand childcare access and affordability in the state;
enacting stricter punishments for exposing children and minors to fentanyl;
and an additional 3.2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to pay for the state workforce, bringing the total raises to 25% of the salary of state employees when he first took office.

The full text of Governor Parson's prepared remarks can be found here.

The Governor's FY2025 Budget Brief can be found here.

House Committee News

School District Superintendent Salaries - The House Special Committee on Education Reform heard HB 2344 (Keathley), which creates provisions relating to school district superintendent salaries in charter counties. The bill defines "total compensation" to include salary, fringe benefits, and wages of the full-time position. It prohibits school district governing boards from approving a superintendent contract that exceeds 5.5 times the approved total compensation of a beginning teacher in the district beginning in the 2025-26 school year.

Virtual School Programs - The House Special Committee on Education Reform discussed HB 2287 (Christofanelli) to modify Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program provisions. The bill clarifies the virtual course enrollment process, outlines payment schedules for resident districts, mandates progress report submissions by virtual education providers, and necessitates collaborative agreements for student services. The sponsor emphasized the legislation's intent to enhance payment clarity, establish timelines for district payments to virtual providers, and provide transparency on student participation options in virtual education.

Age of Compulsory School Attendance - The House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education heard HB 2177 (Sassman) and HB 2323 (Farnan), which modifies the compulsory age for school attendance in Missouri and lowers the mandatory current age of school attendance from 7 to 6. Additionally, the Committee heard HB 2125 (Mackey), reducing the age to 5.

State Funding for Early Childhood Education - The House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education heard HB 1486 (Shields) details reported above in the first story.

Senate Committee News

Allegations of Sexual Misconduct by Private School Employees - The Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development approved SB 766 (Thompson Rehder), addressing allegations of sexual misconduct by private school employees. The bill imposes liability on schools failing to disclose such allegations when providing job references, including damages to victims. A substitute was adopted, adding liability protection for schools disclosing employee misconduct.

Parent's Bill of Rights - The Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development approved SB 728 (Koenig). The bill establishes a "Parent's Bill of Rights," covering school accountability and parental access to materials while prohibiting the collection of students' biometric data. It addresses issues related to gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools, including notification requirements for parents and restrictions on encouraging certain actions. A substitute was introduced during the discussion, requiring school districts to designate gender-specific facilities or provide supervised alternatives.

Tax Credits for Childcare - The Senate Governmental Accountability Committee passed SB 742 (Arthur), establishing three separate tax credit programs to increase access and affordability to childcare for families and businesses in Missouri.

Read the full unabridged legislative report, which includes the latest in Senate drama, here.

See all tracked legislation here.

Budget News

Thank you to the Missouri Budget Project for this quick summary:

Governor Mike Parson released his Executive Budget this week, calling for a $51.8 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2025 that includes:

$25.24 billion in federal funds
$11.36 billion in state earmarked funds
$14.72 billion in general revenue funds

Note that the Consensus Revenue Estimate assumes general revenue collections will be $13.162 billion in FY 2025 – meaning that Missouri would need to use $1.6 billion in general revenue savings (or carryover previous years) to meet the Governor’s budget request.

Although Missouri was able to set aside $8 billion in general revenue over the last three years as a result of an influx in federal funds, these savings are being quickly depleted. Carryover funds will have decreased from $5.139 billion at the end of June 2023 to a projected $1.6 billion by the end of FY 2025 (or June 2025).

Education budget highlights

$3.78 billion for the foundation formula
$361 million for student transportation
$52 million for career education
$81.9 million for expanded Pre-Kindergarten
$29.1 million for Parents As Teachers
$44.8 million for child care quality initiatives
$735 million for child care subsidy and initiatives

In other news

Aligned Priority Bills Report for Missouri

Early Childhood Education and Childcare

Free and voluntary Pre-K for all students who qualify for free- and reduced lunch

HB 1486 (Shields) - Heard in House committee on Elementary and Secondary Education. Scheduled for executive session on 1/31/24.

Child care tax credit package

HB 1488 (Shields) - Voted and reported Do Pass from House-Rules Legislative Oversight on 1/24/24.

SB742 (Arthur) - Voted and reported Do Pass from Senate Committee on Government Accountability on 1/25/24.

Teacher Recruitment and Retention

Differentiated Pay

SB 955 (Eslinger) - referred to Senate - Select Committee on Empowering Parents and Children on 1/25/24.

SB 1013 (Arthur) - referred to Senate - Select Committee on Empowering Parents and Children on 1/25/24.

SB 1163 (Black) - referred to Senate - Select Committee on Empowering Parents and Children on 1/25/24.

School Finance Reform

Alternative Poverty Metric

SB 1080 (Arthur) - referred to Senate - Select Committee on Empowering Parents and Children on 1/25/24.

Other education testimony

Open Enrollment

HB1989 (Pollitt) - Voted and reported Do Pass from House - Rules Regulatory Oversight on 1/24/24.

Aligned President Torree Pederson toured the hallways in Topeka this week to tout the benefits of a longitudinal data system for the state of Kansas.

Kansas News

Legislature gains momentum as first deadline nears

The pace quickened in the Kansas Legislature. With the first legislative deadline approaching next week, lawmakers introduced 93 new bills, and committees scheduled 60 hearings. Lawmakers are gearing up as the revisor's office must soon request all member-sponsored bill drafts.

School Funding, Gun Debates Begin

The House K-12 Budget Committee met on Monday to discuss HB 2485, aiming to alter the school funding formula. The proposed change suggests using the greater of the current or preceding school year's enrollment numbers to prevent double-counting of students who moved between districts. Supporters argue it addresses a flaw in the current two-year look-back system. However, concerns have been raised, particularly about potential adverse effects on primarily rural school districts facing declining student populations.

The House Federal and State Affairs Committee heard a bill on Tuesday that proposes a constitutional amendment recognizing the right to bear arms as a fundamental right and that any restrictions on such right are subject to the strict scrutiny standard. HCR 5020 would require a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate to pass. If it passes, the question would appear on an election ballot.

Tax Bill Sent to Governor

During a press conference on Tuesday, House and Senate leadership officially signed and sent HB 2284 to Governor Laura Kelly's desk. This proposal is the Republican tax package passed by the Legislature late last week. Most of the provisions in the bill are proposals that Kelly and Democrat leadership presented in their plan on the first day of the legislative session. However, we still expect the governor to veto the bill because it moves all Kansans to a single income tax rate that she claims only benefits the highest wage earners.

Governor Kelly has ten days to sign, veto, or allow the bill to become law without her signature. In the meantime, supporters of HB 2284 are working on securing enough votes for a veto-proof override in both the House and Senate.

The Legislature has scheduled Governor Kelly's tax bill, SB 377, for a hearing next week in the Senate Tax Committee. The bill includes many parts of the Republican tax plan. Still, it eliminates the single-income tax rate and adds a sales tax holiday and a sales tax exemption for children's diapers and feminine hygiene products.

Read more on this week in the capitol here.

See all education bills we are tracking here.

In other news

Aligned celebrates cultivation in annual report

Message from the President:

Reflecting on the past year, I find this idea more resonant than ever. Whether advocating for historic funding for early childhood education and witnessing those dollars flow into actual classrooms in Missouri or championing initiatives such as the state longitudinal data system in Kansas, never in our organization’s history have I seen the fruits of the cultivation process unfold so distinctly from inception to fruition.

I credit our devoted team for fostering good ideas, building valuable relationships, and executing well-crafted plans that contributed to our success in 2023. I also applaud our board and supporters for their ongoing investments of time, effort, and support that allow Aligned to thrive. Having a board and staff working from a shared vision has propelled us to the prosperous position we find ourselves in today.

Please take a moment to review our Aligned Annual Report for 2023. We are proud of our accomplishments last year and ready to prepare for a year of growth, progress, and improvements in our organization and the broader education community.

Let's hope after a week of dreary weather, the Kansas City Chiefs will give us something "super" to cheer about on Sunday.

Have a great weekend!