TOP PRIORITY

Student Placement

Cooperating School Districts of Kansas City and St. Louis support legislation that establishes reasonable parameters for the movement of students from unaccredited districts to accredited districts and maintains local control for accredited districts. Without reasonable parameters local school boards would lose qualitative decision making authority and unaccredited school districts would be devastated financially. In addition, the introduction of thousands of non-public school students into the public school system would significantly reduce the funding available for every school district in the state.

The critical characteristics of such legislation should include:
The accredited district must maintain the ability to set appropriate class sizes, and leave sufficient space to accommodate growth within the district.

The accredited district must retain discretion to assign transferring students from unaccredited      districts to the schools of the accredited district’s choice.

The accredited district must not be required to employ additional teachers or construct additional classrooms to accommodate transferring students.

Students wishing to transfer must have been enrolled in the unaccredited school district for at least one school year prior to the transfer.

If the unaccredited school district gains provisional or full accreditation, transfer students must return to their home district.

The rate of tuition to be charged to the sending district is the tuition rate of the receiving accredited district. Ell, special education and transportation costs would be paid in addition to the receiving  district’s tuition costs. All costs should be paid in advance directly by the state.

Accredited districts that receive transfer students from unaccredited districts should not be required to include transfer students’ statewide assessment scores in their district’s scores for three years.

PRIORITY POSITIONS

A goal of all school districts is for the foundation formula to be fully funded.  When modifications are made to the formula or appropriations are insufficient to make progress toward that goal, those modifications and appropriations should equitably recognize the interests of both formula and hold harmless districts.
Neither the state retirement systems nor their assets should be combined.

A “Fair Tax” approach should not be pursued in our state, as analysis has shown that a successful initiative would significantly decrease school districts’ funding for the children served by ALL public schools in Missouri.

CONTINUING STANDING POSITIONS

Local Control

The local school district should have the authority to make the final decisions about matters including open enrollment; employee compensation and working conditions; class sizes; curriculum and      instructional materials; professional development; program and employee evaluations; and school calendar.

School Finance

Programs should not be mandated without adequate funding.

Bond issues should require no more than a simple majority vote.

Bonding capacity limits should be increased to 20 percent of assessed valuation.

School district representation should be increased on governing boards that grant tax abatements and the definition of “blighted” should be narrowed.

The assessment of property should be consistent statewide.

Transportation should receive full categorical funding.

All school districts should be exempted from the motor fuel tax.

Seat belts on school buses should not be mandated unless safety research clearly demonstrates they are needed.

Charter Schools

Charter schools should not be expanded beyond their current limits unless sponsored by local school boards or until it is demonstrated that existing charter schools are academically equivalent or superior alternatives to traditional public schools.