Letting a tiny number of students transfer districts hurts Missouri schools | Opinion

Missouri state senators should question why the public school open enrollment bill recently passed by the House helps so few — instead of improving the situation for a much larger number of students and families across the state’s 500-plus school districts.

Missouri House Bill 711 would allow public school students entering kindergarten through 12th grade to transfer to a school in a nonresident district. School districts would be allowed to limit the number of students leaving to 5% of their enrollment from the previous school year. Under this open enrollment program, school districts could admit as many nonresident students as they would like.

Imagine a school district is a boat. The boat is taking on water in the form of declining enrollment, outdated and underutilized buildings, challenges with teacher recruitment and a shrinking tax base to fund operations. As the boat takes on water and sinks deeper, a vessel in better condition arrives. However, by law, only 5% of the passengers on the sinking boat can move to the better one. The remaining 95% must stay put.

The core issue is not why more people can’t move to a better boat. It is the inadequacy of any boats, particularly when they are filled with children. None should be sinking at all.

Rather than H.B. 711’s escape plan for no more than 5% of students, state lawmakers should address the shortfalls in districts that students and families may want to leave. Those without enough students, teachers or revenue could stabilize by merging with adjacent districts experiencing similar challenges.

The idea of merging school districts was prominently introduced in a 1966 report on Missouri’s schools from the now-defunct Academy for Educational Development. That report led to a conference initiated by then-Gov. Warren Hearnes, which led to a commission overseen by state Rep. James Spainhower, formally known as the Missouri School District Reorganization Commission. Both the governor’s conference and the Spainhower Commission recommended consolidating many of the state’s districts to relieve the isolation of struggling schools. Just as Mark Twain articulated, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

Furthermore, school districts are typically among the largest recipients of property tax dollars. With House Republicans in Jefferson City on track to underfund the state’s foundation formula for public school distributions by $300 million, local property taxpayers will feel increased pressure to cover the state’s shortchanging of education. Greater economies of scale generated by larger school districts could produce relief, or at least a more gradual increase, for property taxpayers.

Our state’s struggling school districts and the 95% of students who would not be able to transfer deserve better than H.B. 711, which the Missouri Senate should reject. State lawmakers should support the formation of larger, more resilient school districts that can better deliver on the sacred promise of public education for students, families and communities, who deserve more than their district can currently provide.