School Choice Before the House Again
Missouri Pro-Vote is asking voters to contact their State Representatives and encourage them to vote against the Betty L. Thompson tax credit/scholarship program (SB 808).
The bill is scheduled for debate in the Missouri House today.
The program would provide tax credits for 65% of funds donated by individuals to "education assistance programs" which will fund scholarships for under-achieving kids (under 2.5 GPA) from low-income families (families whose income is just above the eligibility level for reduced-fee lunches). The bill targets Missouri's larger urban districts, St. Louis and Kansas City.
The tax credit can not exceed the donor's Missouri tax liability and the "education assistance programs" (the programs who would administer the scholarships) would be restricted from collection more than $40 million. In addition, the taxpayer making the donation is restricted from donating on behalf of a dependent.
Opponents of the program argue that it constitutes a voucher program and that the credits take money away from schools that need it and give it to schools that are better off, or to private and parochial schools.
As it is currently written, the scholarship would be limited to an average of $5,000 which would be given to the district accepting the student. Money is distributed to school districts based on their enrollment figures, thus if the district has a net decrease in students, the funds also decrease.
However, the accepting district accepts the scholarship in-lieu of the standard amount they would receive from the addition of students.
Based on data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education the average spent on Missouri students in 2006 was $8,221. St. Louis City: $10,872.00; Clayton (a district a number of St. Louis students attend through the voluntary transfer program): $15,248.31; Kirkwood (again with a number of city students): $10,133.52.
An article in St. Louis Commerce Magazine estimated figures for private education in the area. Parochial elementary schools $3,800 to $5,000; Parochial high school: $5,700. Non-parochial high school $3,500 to $8,900 [a commenter said tuition runs more in the $8,500 to $10,000 range].
Currently districts accepting students through the voluntary transfer program (VICC) receive funds equivalent to what the state would give their home district.
Financially the program may seem like a better deal for parochial and private schools, but a number of districts have demonstrated strong support for the VICC program despite the reduction in funds the students bring with them.
There are philosophical disagreements and fiscal impacts that have not been evaluated yet. There are also a lot of details to be worked out, the "education assistance programs" have not yet been created, though their limits are defined in the law.
I don't know what they consider to be "parochial" high school, but I can tell you that the only Catholic high schools in St. Louis under $6,000 per year are St. Mary's for boys and Rosati Kain for girls (Cardinal Glennon may also be under $6,000 per year).
Dubourg is over $7,000, SLUH is over $9,000, and most are in the $8,500 to $10,000 per year range.
Posted by city parent on Mon., Feb 26, 2007 at 2:10 PMGive parents the right to chose the best education option for the child. Call your legislator TODAY to register your concerns for St Louis public school students. Urge your state rep to VOTE YES on House Bill 808. This bill has ZERO cost to the state. It simply gives power to the parents to choose the school that is best for their child.
The sponsors of this bill have put forth a plan that limits scholarship availability to those public school students who are doing poorly (at or below a 2.5 GPA) and those that come from poverty families that cannot afford to move into a better school district. In fact, HB 808 would help relieve some of the pressure on our public schools by taking on the worst performing students. The total scholarship dollars that will follow the student are substantially less than the poorer performing schools allotted funding for that student -- making more revenues available to educate the students that remain.
I have yet to see the opponents to HB 808 bring forward reasonable and well thought out objections as to why we should not want this to pass. I have seen Provote's materials on 808 and I suggest that if they do not support THIS bill, then they counter each point with which they disagree.
As I see it, scholarships are just one tool that we can use to IMMEDIATELY help students that are not doing well in St. Louis public schools. Give Superintendent Bourisaw and the transitional board a chance to turn our schools around. And until they are successful, give some of our most at risk kids a chance to receive an education that is better suited to meet their needs. Please take a minute to review HB 808 http://www.house.mo.gov/bills071/bills/HB808.htm. See for yourself how reasonable and straighforward this bill is. It really comes down to one thing: ALL parents should have the power to decide what is best for their child's education. This bill gives poverty parents that cannot afford to move to a better school district the same access that non-poverty parents have had all along.
Posted by saphy48@yahoo.com on Tue., Feb 27, 2007 at 4:39 AMvery good comment
Posted by vikas on Tue., Feb 27, 2007 at 8:05 AMHB 808 will NOT go to vote today per several legislators.
Posted by saphy48@yahoo.com on Tue., Feb 27, 2007 at 9:05 AMBishop DuBourg isn't over $7,000 a year yet, but it is almost there. Rosati-Kain and St. Mary's are both around $6,000 a year. St. John the Baptist High School in Bevo, Cardinal Ritter, and Trinity High School in North County are all under $6,000 a year.
There are other parochial high schools in the city that are even less expensive. Tower Grove Baptist in the Shaw neighborhood has a K-12 school where tuition runs only $4,000 a year for the first child, and less for multiple kids. St. Louis Christian Academy on Lafayette in the Gate District has a K-12 school in the price range. Rivers of Life Christian School just opened a K-12 program in the Fox Park neighborhood, and is also inexpensive. Those are just the ones I know of off the top of my head.
There are also the Nativity Model Catholic Middle schools (Loyola by SLU for the boys, and Marian in Tower Grove South for girls). The tuition is on a sliding fee scale, so low-income students can attend for almost nothing. The schools are designed to take at-risk and failing students and get them back up to grade level and prepare them for the Catholic high schools. I have a hunch that these types of programs would really expand with the scholarship program in place.
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