JC/DC Urgent Action Needed!!

SB 55 Harmful Education Bill is scheduled to be debated and voted on next week.

Missouri PTA needs you to contact your Senator today and tell them to support PUBLIC SCHOOLS and vote NO on this combined Voucher and Charter Mega Bill with no local control or oversight.

Vouchers Bills are written to give school vouchers to all students to attend private schools. These bills pay for those scholarships by offering tax credits to people or corporations that make contributions to the scholarship fund.  Missouri PTA and other public-school advocates are opposed to voucher programs because they divert funding from public education and lack oversight and accountability that public schools offer to all students.

Charter School Expansion Bills work to expand Charter schools without ensuring that those schools are held accountable and run by a board of locally elected individuals and NOT private companies with their own agenda.  Missouri PTA opposes expansion of Charter Schools without public accountability, inequitable enrollment practices, and unaddressed performance issues.  

Missouri PTA advocates are called to ensure your senators understand that you are paying attention and that these issues are important to you!

MOPTA Advocates are invited to utilize the letter below to guide your calls, emails, and social media contact with your lawmaker(s).

Dear Senator,

As a community, we prioritize the educational standards for all children. We have evaluation standards that must be met for public schools to remain accredited and we oppose efforts to divert funding from public education.  Those standards continue to provide accountability for our schools, quality education for all children, and access to education no matter the ability or situation a child may experience.  That standard is now at risk as this bill is being called to the Senate Floor.  As an advocate for ALL Missouri children, I am opposed to this bill as it works to remove that accountability for schools and the equity of access to a quality education for students.

 SB 55 is a mega bill with a long list of provisions hostile to public education. 

The bill now includes –

  • School Board Member Recall: Requires an election to recall a school board member if a petition is submitted signed by at least 25% of the number of voters in the last school board election.
  • Education Scholarship Account/Vouchers: Creates up to $100 million in tax credits for donations to an organization that gives out scholarships for students to attend a home school or private school – including for-profit virtual schools.
  • Charter School Expansion: Authorizes charter schools to be opened in an additional 61 school districts located in Jackson, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties or in cities of 30,000 or more and allows charters opened in provisionally and unaccredited districts to remain open even after the school district regains accreditation.
  • Turning MOCAP into Virtual Charter Schools: Allows students enrolling in MOCAP full time to apply directly to the vendor and cuts the resident school district and professional educators out of the process.
  • Home school students are allowed to participate in MSHSAA activities. Districts are prohibited from belonging to MSHSAA unless home schooled students are allowed to participate in district athletics and activities governed by MSHSAA.
  • Limiting State Board of Education: Restricts members of the state board of education to serve only one full term.”

Please support our children and our public schools by OPPOSING SB 55!

Sincerely,

Your name and PTA

 

Not sure how to contact your state legislators? Click here and insert your street address or 9-digit zip code.

Paula McKinney
Vice President of Legislation and Advocacy 
Missouri PTA