Missouri bills would require KCPS to pay millions to charters, allow students to enroll elsewhere
Missouri lawmakers are advancing measures that would require Kansas City Public Schools to provide millions more for charter schools and give public school students the option of enrolling in other districts.
The General Assembly is weighing the legislation at a moment when Kansas City’s charter schools, publicly funded but independently operated, are poised to enroll more students than its traditional public schools – an inflection point coming after years of falling public school enrollment.
The Missouri House earlier in March approved two bills championed by proponents of school choice that have the power to affect students and families in Kansas City and across the state. It’s the latest step in a multi-year effort to boost funding for charter school students and implement a form of open enrollment in public schools.
One proposal requires public schools in Kansas City and St. Louis – the two areas in Missouri where charter schools are operated – to provide more aid to charters. Kansas City Public Schools would have to contribute an additional $10 million or more a year, according to a fiscal analysis produced for lawmakers.
The other measure sets up a system to allow students to enroll in districts where they don’t live, an idea commonly called open enrollment. It would work on an opt-in basis, with districts deciding whether they will take non-resident students. But nearly all districts – Kansas City included – wouldn’t be able to stop students from leaving unless there’s a rush to the exits.
Both bills are now awaiting action in the Senate. The House approved versions of the bills last year, but they didn’t advance in the upper chamber. It isn’t uncommon for legislators to spend several years trying to pass a bill before it becomes law and the continuing push underscores the desire among Republican leadership to champion school choice.
“Education is an emotional issue. Change is hard,” said Rep. Brad Pollitt, a Sedalia Republican sponsoring the open enrollment bill.
Charters first took root in Missouri in the late 90s, promising a path for schools to operate with freedom from traditional district regulations while still receiving public dollars and providing a tuition-free education. Twenty charter schools are operating in Kansas City, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
But Missouri law doesn’t fund public and charter school students equally. In 2019, Kansas City Public School officials told The Star that they estimated that about $200 more per student, or roughly $2 million total, should be going to charters. That was lower than estimates by charter school advocates of about $15 million at the time. In total, KCPS spends more than $15,000 per student on average, including federal, state and local dollars, according to state data.
As the charter sector grew over the past couple of decades, and as more families left for suburban districts, Kansas City Public Schools’ enrollment fell by more than half, to under 14,000 students. KCPS lost state accreditation, and over the past decade has been working to improve attendance and student achievement to gain it back. It earned provisional accreditation in 2014.
And in January, it finally reached its goal when the Missouri State Board of Education granted the district full accreditation.
The state requires a district that has lost accreditation to maintain or improve certain performance measures for at least two consecutive years before it considers raising its status. Losing accreditation can trigger interventions from the state, including students being allowed to transfer to neighboring systems, with the unaccredited district picking up the tab.
The district, which has seen enrollment remain more steady in recent years, touted regaining accreditation as a means of boosting the district’s image, plus attracting and retaining more students. Billboards advertising the feat have popped up in the city.
Roughly half of public school students in Kansas City, more than 13,000, now attend charter schools. There are more than 25,000 charter students in the state, with about 40% of students in St. Louis going to charters.
“When you have over 50 percent on one side of the state and just a little over 40 percent on the other side of the state of public education students that are in public charters, we cannot turn a blind eye to the need to fix this law in the formula that does resource them at a lesser degree,” said Rep. Doug Richey, an Excelsior Springs Republican sponsoring the charter schools bill.
‘Glitch’ in charter school funding
Douglas Thaman, executive director of the Missouri Charter Public School Association, said the amount of local property tax dollars due to charter schools is based on a 2005 assessed valuation of property. Charter advocates argue they have not received their fair share as property values have risen since then.
Charter advocates say that because of the “glitch” in the funding formula, a child attending a charter school in Kansas City is funded at a rate of about $1,700 less than a student attending KCPS. In St. Louis, Thaman said, charter students receive about $2,500 less than their peers in traditional public schools.
“It would be a really positive decision for the Kansas City area,” Thaman said of the legislation. “It would significantly help to address resource issues and to ensure that those students had the resources they need and are entitled to in order to receive a really high quality education.”
Kenny Southwick, executive director of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City, which represents 32 area school districts, said that the organization opposes legislation that diverts more money from traditional public school systems. But it understands KCPS’ goal to collaboratively work through the charter funding issue.
He said the organization believes the legislation should be limited to Kansas City.
“And the bill is not written that way. It’s written to include St. Louis, which is not in favor of the bill,” Southwick said.
Much of the controversy over the bill in the General Assembly centers on St. Louis’s role in the legislation. Disputes over transportation funding for charter students and how a local sales tax for education programs is spent factored heavily into opposition.
“Yes, there were a lot of good faith conversations in Kansas City about what works best for their situation. Well, there’s a lot of reasons St. Louis City is different than Kansas City,” Rep. Peter Merideth, a St. Louis Democrat, said.
Thaman argued that it’s appropriate for both Kansas City and St. Louis to be included in the bill. Tax dollars for education should follow students, not systems, he said.
A Kansas City-only bill would be solving a funding inequity for only half of the state’s charter school students, he said.
“That doesn’t seem right or appropriate,” Thaman said.
The House approved the bill 85-67. A Senate hearing is possible as early as this week.
Open enrollment
The open enrollment legislation passed by a nearly identical margin – 85 to 66.
While the bill would establish an open enrollment program, it allows districts to decide whether to participate. Districts could set the number of students it will accept and in what grades and buildings. They would have to accept students in the order in which they applied – a requirement intended to stop schools from cherry-picking academically or athletically gifted students.
While districts can decide whether to accept students, they can’t in most cases stop their own from leaving. Districts can only cap the number of exits at 5% of the student population for the first two years the program is in effect.
This week the Kansas House and Senate advanced separate versions of a policy that would require school systems to accept out - of- district students as long as the district has capacity. Neither chamber was able to reach a veto-proof majority. Kansas districts currently have discretion over whether non-resident students can enroll.
The Missouri bill has raised concerns about increasing segregation, equitably serving special education students, as well as whether it could lead to the consolidation of smaller districts.
“We believe that public schools are the great equalizer. We don’t want to lose that,” Southwick said. “We don’t want to end up with some kind of level of segregation for the haves and the have-nots, for those who can choose a school and those who are unable to. Education ought to be equal for all of our kids and it ought to be of a high quality.”
Several Kansas City area school districts declined to comment on the legislation or did not return The Star’s requests for comment.
Lawmakers supporting open enrollment gave several explanations, including suggesting the program would give parents and community members more influence over schools. They also argued it would give students a way out of struggling districts.
“I am a businesswoman and the last time I checked, if you have competition, you bring success. And if you’re scared of competition, you’ve got a problem,” said Rep. Hannah Kelly, a Mountain Grove Republican.
Opponents warned a spirit of competition could be taken to extremes, resulting in an all-out fight over students. More cooperation, not less, is what’s needed, they said.
“I see this leading to an extreme pitting of school districts against each other,” Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, said. “What we need in schools today is collaboration.”
The Star’s Katie Bernard contributed reporting
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
