Missouri lawmakers, don’t keep cheating Kansas City public charter school students

When it comes to education policy, we often see policymakers refuse to put differences aside and do what’s best for our children. Fortunately, Kansas City Public Schools and the public charter schools in our area are making real and meaningful progress in bucking this trend and actually putting the interest of students and families first. Next year, the legislature has the opportunity to pass a measure that KCPS and public charter schools agree upon: funding equity for all public school students.

Of the roughly 27,000 Kansas City public school students this year, nearly half of them now attend a public charter school, with that number rising significantly over the past decade.

However, because of a glitch in Missouri’s 16-year-old education funding formula, a child attending a Kansas City public charter school is funded approximately $1,700 less in state and local taxes than a peer in a traditional Kansas City public school. As the CEO of Gordon Parks Elementary School, a diverse Kansas City public charter school where 100% of our students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, I know firsthand how this funding inequity negatively impacts students, as school leaders must reduce staff, increase class size, or cut programs to make ends meet.

Charter school funding inequity results from a glitch in the law, and not through bad intentions by any party. Because of this glitch, the funding generated from property taxes that charter public school students receive is based largely on the amount of local taxes from 2004 to 2005 — data that is 16 years old. Local tax revenues have increased significantly in Kansas City and St. Louis since 2005, but because of our antiquated funding mechanism, public charter school students are missing out on much of this increase. Meanwhile, local districts are compensated using current year tax collections.

That these funding inequities exist is not disputed. Beginning in summer 2019, a group of Kansas City charter leaders and senior officials from Kansas City Public Schools began work on a mutually agreeable solution that was included in a bill during the 2021 Missouri legislative session. This legislation represented a compromise package that would have ensured equitable funding for Kansas City kids. Although the legislation passed the Missouri House of Representatives on a bipartisan vote, the 2021 legislative session ended before the Missouri Senate could vote.

Fixing this inequity should be a top legislative priority for Missouri lawmakers when they return to Jefferson City in January. Kansas City’s charter schools will stand by the compromise solutions that were reached with KCPS in 2021.

With half of Kansas City students now choosing a public charter school, fixing this inequity — where charter students receive $1,700 less annually than their peers — is more important than ever. Working together, we can fix the glitch and benefit all Kansas City public school students.