Parents fight for school choice in Missouri this week as teachers’ union lawsuit threatens thousands of scholarships

Missouri families are defending a recently expanded scholarship program that helps them afford tuition, textbooks and tutoring, after a teachers’ union challenged the expansion in court.

MOScholars, established by the Missouri Legislature in 2021, gives donors tax credits for contributing to education scholarships. After the Legislature expanded the program earlier this year by allocating $50 million in state funding to the program, the Missouri National Education Association filed a lawsuit to stop the state from directly funding it.

A trial is underway Monday and Tuesday in Cole County Circuit Court, where a judge will hear arguments over whether the expansion is constitutional. 

As the legal battle has unfolded between the state and the teachers’ union, three Missouri families represented by EdChoice Legal Advocates (ECLA) also have intervened in the case.  

“Kyla Knight, Cassondra Clooten, and Libby Eversgerd are parents whose children benefit from the expansion and would be harmed if that funding were curtailed,” a court brief for the parents reads. 

The families use MOScholars funding for a variety of educational resources to fit their needs, including rising tuition costs and securing necessary school supplies.  

The state’s funding increase was expected to triple the program’s size by adding thousands of new scholarships, as The Lion has reported, opening up educational opportunities to thousands of children on the waitlist. 

MOScholars helps ensure “that all Missouri children receive an education that best meets their needs,” the families’ brief notes. “Participation is optional, and families may continue to attend their traditional public schools. But if a family determines that is not the best option for their child, MOScholars creates additional opportunities and flexibility in education. It also helps ease disparities in educational options to children throughout the state.”  

MOScholars does not take funding “set aside for public schools” but rather is funded “through private donations and appropriations from the general fund,” it adds. 

ECLA argues the teachers’ union has not identified any personal harm as a result of the funding, and that its legal theories conflict with precedent and constitutional text. 

“Only families face true irreparable harm here,” the brief notes, as blocking the funding would cut off scholarships for new students and destabilize support for current recipients.  

Meanwhile, the teachers’ union is suing under taxpayer standing and asserts “no direct harm to themselves,” the families note – only “general concern about spending tax revenue.” 

“If they succeed, they will merely vindicate their ideological preferences without any monetary benefit to them,” the filing reads, noting that voided appropriations funding is returned to the government, not to taxpayers.  

In its lawsuit, the Missouri NEA admits its standing opposition to school choice legislation. 

“To be sure, Plaintiffs oppose the diversion of scarce public resources for private school vouchers,” the brief reads, adding the case is not about policy disagreements, but about the law. 

The union argues the Legislature’s establishment of MOScholars didn’t authorize the state “to pour general revenue appropriations into a Fund created for the Treasurer to administer a tax credit statute.”  

The state has defended the expanded funding as one part of its wider goal to expand parental rights and educational choice.

“Foundational is ‘the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children,” the state’s brief opens, noting that the $50 million appropriation delivered scholarships to children this fall.

“These children now enjoy bright futures and untold possibilities, all thanks to the appropriation.”