‘Big step in the right direction’: Missouri Senate advances school choice expansion bill 

The Missouri Senate voted Tuesday to advance a bill expanding the state’s school choice program, alongside other education reforms.

Senators voted 20-13 in favor of SB 727, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-District 15, which would expand the Missouri Empower Scholarship Accounts Program (MOScholars).

School choice advocate Corey DeAngelis celebrated the bill’s passage on X.

“The Missouri Senate took a big step in the right direction towards empowering all families with school choice,” DeAngelis told The Lion. “It’s now up to the House to do the right thing by passing SB 727 and expanding education opportunities across the state.” 

While the bill represents an expansion, it doesn’t make MOScholars fully universal. 

“All families, regardless of income, should be able to take their children’s education dollars to the education providers of their choosing,” DeAngelis continued. “If a state like Arizona – with one-seat GOP majorities in both chambers in 2022 – can pass universal school choice, then deep-red Missouri can get the job done, too.” 

MOScholars launched in 2021 and provides tax-credit funded scholarships to low-income students in certain regions. 

SB 727 would raise the fundraising cap for the program from $50 million to $75 million annually, as well as expand student eligibility by removing geographic barriers and raising the household income cap from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level for families. 

“This is a win for everybody in the situation, for kids, and it provides parents options,” Koenig said during a Senate education committee hearing in January. 

Koenig added he preferred not to have any income cap but knew that would be a harder sell. 

“When someone is going to a traditional public school, we don’t means-test them,” he explained. “All kids should have this option. Obviously, that’s not what I filed because I thought that might be difficult to pass.” 

State Treasurer Vivek Malek, who oversees MOScholars, also showed his support for SB 727.  

“We raised $9 million [in scholarships] last year. This year, we raised $17 million,” Malek told the Senate committee. “And as the program is expanding, I think it is more wise to expand it now than to wait.”  

SB 727 includes other education reforms, including setting guidelines for how school districts decide on a four-day school week. 

In Missouri, roughly one-in-five of the state’s districts have moved to a four-day week.  

However, research shows four-day school weeks don’t offer any improvement to academics, and most parents aren’t in favor of it. 

SB 727 proposes high-population municipalities – those with 30,000 or more inhabitants – be required to hold a general vote before adopting a four-day school week. Currently, school boards are the sole decision-makers.