By Susan Turk

February 27, 2012—St. Louis—At present there are 2 omnibus education bills working their way through the Missouri legislature, a house and a senate version.   Omnibus bills combine several bills dealing with the same subject into one large bill.  Both bills have been voted out of committee and can come up for a floor vote at any time. The two bills vary from each other. They are both full of unpleasant things.  The senate bill is SB 451. The house bill is HB 1740.   At some point one or the other will prevail and they will combine under one number.   Regardless, both should be opposed.

SB 451 starts off with Senator Jane Cunningham’s SB 706, the Passport Scholarship Program.  It provides scholarships to any student residing in an unaccredited school district to attend a nonpublic school.  It is a tax credit/voucher program.  Taxpayers can make up to $40 million worth of contributions to an “approved educational assistance organization and claim a tax credit.” of 60% of the contribution annually.

The scholarships are not limited to students enrolled in the unaccredited district’s schools.  Everyone already attending all the parochial and private schools in the city could apply for these scholarships.  Meanwhile, state revenue to pay for public schools and all other state services would be lowered by as much as $40 million each year by a new tax credit program.

The bill tries to address what is called the “Turner Fix”  by expanding the entities who can sponsor charter schools.  The Turner Fix is a response to a lawsuit filed by a litigant named Turner and others,  St. Louis city residents who enrolled their children in the Clayton Public Schools before accreditation was removed from the SLPS in 2007.  MRS 167.131 stipulates that accredited districts in the same or adjoining counties must accept students from unaccredited districts who wish to transfer to their schools.  Once the SLPS became unaccredited Turner et. al. wanted the SLPS to pay their Clayton tuition. The courts have sided with the plaintiffs but county districts have asked for relief from the courts and legislature to prevent their districts from being overcrowded.  Hence several bills have been filed to affect a Turner Fix this session.  Similar legislation filed last year was not approved.

The “Fix” permits accredited school districts or the Cooperating School Districts of St. Louis County to operate charter schools in unaccredited districts.  These charters will be prohibited from “contracting with the unaccredited district, employing any of the unaccredited district’s teachers, or contracting with any teacher’s union.”  The charters would be allowed to continue to operate after the district regained accreditation.  Since elsewhere in the bill limits are placed on the number of students from an unaccredited district who could transfer to accredited districts’ schools, a sop of additional charter schools opening in the city but run by county districts is being offered as an alternative.

The bill also allows accredited districts to close a school that needs improvement and lease it to a charter school.  Unaccredited and provisionally accredited districts can do that too.

The bill does away with the 2 year period between when a district loses accreditation and when it lapses for all districts.  The 2 years was meant to give districts a chance to improve and avoid being dissolved.  The state took it away from us and is taking it away from Kansas City so they have decided to treat all districts the same way.

The bill gives the state board of education the discretion to change the number of people on the Special Administrative Boards that can be appointed to run unaccredited districts. It removes the opportunity for an accredited school district to reject students from an unaccredited district being attached to it.

If students transfer to schools in an accredited district as provided by law when their district is unaccredited, the receiving school will not be required to report those student’s MAP scores for up to 5 years. Accredited districts must establish criteria for accepting students from unaccredited districts by June 30, 2012.  The criteria must include the availability of “highly qualified teachers” and “existing classroom space”.  Receiving districts will not be required to hire extra teachers to accommodate more students or construct additional classrooms. Resident students cannot be displaced.  Students may complete their education in the receiving transfer even after their home district regains accreditation.

All the stuff protecting the county schools from an influx of SLPS students is part of the Turner Fix. It is fixed for the county districts, not for us. There will be a potential irremediable financial drain on the SLPS.

The Cooperating School District’s did a study and found there were potentially 15,000 students in St. Louis who would transfer to county schools if they could. Not all of them were SLPS students. 1700 from the existing charters, and 2700 private and parochial schools in the city would take advantage. 2200 were city students already attending county schools through the VICC but wishing to transfer to schools the deseg program limits them from attending. Cooperating School District Executive Director Don Senti said at a meeting at Washington University on January 26, 2012 that it would cost $309 million for tuition and transportation to move that many students to county schools.   The GOB for the SLPS this year was $289 million.

Whether the same number would be attracted to county run charter schools in the city is doubtful.  But, there are currently waiting lists for charter seats so if more charters open, there will be a drain and that will mean more school closings and more cuts to programs in the SLPS.

The bill creates something called the Hinson Plan for districts which become unaccredited outside of St, Louis and St. Louis County.  All such districts must be divided up and annexed to surrounding districts.  This is the plan for Kansas City, the complete obliteration of an educational jurisdiction.

The bill sets up a Clearinghouse to “assist students in the St. Louis City district or any other unaccredited district in St. Louis County to transfer to an accredited district, charter school, virtual school, or nonpublic school using a Passport Scholarship.”  “The expenses associated with the clearinghouse will be defrayed by the DESE withholding funds, not to exceed five hundred dollars per pupil from the unaccredited district’s state school aid.”  “This program will continue until the district has been accredited for five years and has met all MSIP academic standards for five consecutive years.”

There are 6 MSIP academic standards. They are the math and communication arts MAP scores for elementary, middle and the high school EOCs in those subjects. Currently, we don’t meet any of them. The possibility that we will ever meet all of them is not likely for the foreseeable future.

51% of teacher evaluations must be based on student academic growth.

The Passport Scholarship program alone may be enough to sink it. The Legislature has refused to pass programs that support parochial school tuition for several years. But the Turner Fix is a powerful draw for some senators to vote for this thing. 

However, there is another bill, SB 456 which will accomplish a Turner Fix using much of the same language without resorting to subsidizing tuition for the private and parochial schools and cutting state revenue. Unfortunately, SB 456 is bottled up in Senator Cunningham’s General Laws Committee going nowhere.

HB1740

 HB 1740 also includes Cunningham’s Passport Scholarship Program and provisions for a Turner Fix but there are a few differences. There is a sunset clause for the scholarship program of 6 years from the August 28, 2012 effective date.  It includes the provisions of State Rep. Tishaura Jones’ charter school expansion bill HB 1228, which has been voted out of committee and could be passed on its own. HB 1740 also fixes problems with the Foundation Formula for funding K-12 schools.

Under current law, charter schools are only allowed in Kansas City and the city of St. Louis.  HB1740 and HB1228 allow them to be opened in school districts that have been provisionally accredited for 3 consecutive years starting from 2009-10 school year.  The school boards of accredited districts will be allowed to sponsor charter schools.  In unaccredited and provisionally accredited school districts, the authority to sponsor charter schools will be expanded to all public 4 year colleges and universities, all private colleges and universities whose primary campus is in the state and have a teacher education program, community colleges whose service area encompasses some portion of the school district, private, non-profit 2-year vocational and technical schools and a new state public charter school commission that would replace the state board of education as a sponsoring authority.

It has a nasty provision that would not allow a district that became provisionally accredited or fully accredited to benefit from being so for three years after achieving the status, thus allowing continued operation of charter schools.  It gives charter schools the right of first refusal for any school district facility that is for sale.

It also eliminates the 2 year period between when a district is unaccredited and when it lapses.

Its provisions for a Turner Fix are somewhat different. It only allows students who have been enrolled in the district’s public schools for one year to transfer to a county, charter, or virtual school.  Students in private or parochial schools, students attending county schools through the VICC and home schooled students would be ineligible. If the home district, regains accreditation they may complete the grades in the school they attend but if it is not high school, they must return to the home district for the remainder of their education.  SB 541 allows all students, even those in private schools to transfer and lets them stay until high school graduation.

It has the same requirements for setting up admissions criteria and the setting up of a clearinghouse but it does not specify a $500/student limit for the payment of funds from the district to the clearinghouse.

The bill stipulates that the legislature must work towards fully funding the Foundation Formula by 2017 and diminishes the loss of funding to hold harmless districts in years when the formula is not fully funded.  St. Louis City is a hold harmless district.

The Passport Scholarship Program is a poison pill that should kill these bills.  The name changes annually but the strategy is one that repeatedly attempts to deplete public revenue to support private and religious schools when the state does not adequately fund its public schools.

There are 2 joint resolutions that impact education.

SJR 47

 ”This proposed constitutional amendment, if approved by voters, would modify Article IX, Section 8, commonly referred to as the “Blaine Amendment” by removing the prohibition on the distribution of public moneys to religious organizations. Instead, it prohibits public entities from denying an individual or an entity the state benefits of an education program, funding, or other support on the basis of religious identify or belief provided the state benefits comply with the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

This joint resolution has been referred to Senator Cunningham’s general laws committee.  It has not yet been voted out to the floor of the senate but Cunningham will shepherd it through. 

At a joint education committee hearing in St. Louis in November, 2011, representatives of both the Kansas City and St. Louis Archdioceses spoke in favor of public money being used to pay for tuition to parochial schools.  They both have empty seats in their schools and would like to fill them with students from the unaccredited public school districts in their dioceses.  They see the loss of accreditation in KC and St. Louis as an opportunity for their schools.  If the resolution passes, and the subsequent constituional amendment referendum is approved by voters, it would go beyond even the Passport Scholarship Program in allowing the direct subsidy of tuition at religious schools with scarce public dollars.

HJR 43

has passed the house but may be bottled up in the senate.  It would submit a constitutional amendment to the voters which would prevent state revenue from rising 1.5% more than the rate of inflation or the rate of population growth.  Were it passed by voters, the state would never be able to raise revenue for special needs like the Joplin Tornado or to fund the Foundation Formula.

Contact your legislators.  Ask friends and family to contact legislators.

Contact information for house members is available at http://www.house.mo.gov/MemberPrn.aspx?year=2012

Contact information for senate members is available at http://www.senate.mo.gov/12info/senalpha.htm

St. Louis Board of Education Meeting

February 14, 2012

Present at the meeting were: Katherine Wessling, President, Chad Beffa, Emile Bradford-Taylor, Bill Haas, and Donna Jones. Board Members David Jackson and Rebecca Rogers had “excused” absences.

II – PUBLIC COMMENTS

Susan Turk displayed a bright yellow “school choice” scarf, which is being given out at various forums. Attendees are encouraged to wear the scarf to demonstrate their support for “school choice.” She again reminded the Board that on February 18, 2012 there will be a state-wide “Save Our Schools Conference” at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

III – PRESENTATION BY SUPERINTENDENT ADAMS

Dr. Adams made a presentation to the Board starting with an “Update on the District,” which highlighted the following points.

A)        Update

1)       SLPS Snap Shot

a)       77 “school sites:” 72 schools & 5 programs

b)       Total enrollment: 24,901

c)       Daily attendance: 92.9%

d)       1,988 teachers: pupil/teacher ratio within “Desirable Level”

e)       87% - free/reduced lunches

f)         15% - special education

g)       10 % - homeless

h)       9% - ESOL

2)       Financial Condition

a)       District operated within a balanced budget last year & this

b)       Desegregation Case Agreement (DCA) has eliminated deficit fund balance and continues to fund new, not existing, programs

c)       State revenues have not met forecasts, so some money was withdrawn from schools and the Central Office at mid-year

3)       Academic Achievement

a)       Since 2007, the percentage of students receiving “proficient” or “advanced” on the Math and Communication Arts MAP exams have increased

b)       Also increases in the English II and Algebra I EOC exams. NOTE - new District policy only allows students with a “C” or better in the classes to take the exams.

c)       There were 1,873 graduates (62.2%) in 2011; receiving $23.3 million in scholarships and accepted into 245 colleges and universities (these figures were self-reported and include multiple scholarships or acceptances to one student)

i)         NOTE: universities are beginning to report the number of students by District, who are enrolled in their “remedial classes;” these figures will be factors in the accreditation of school districts.

(1)    President Wessling suggested early identification and targeted instruction to college-bound students.

d)       The number of schools making AYP rose from 12 in 2008/09 to 16 in 2010/11

e)       The number of APR standards met by the District rose from 3 in 2008’09 to 6 in 2010/11

4)       Accelerating Progress

a)       SLPS Comprehensive Long Range Plan seeks to accelerate academic progress by:

i)         Increasing, Early Childhood Education

ii)        Equipping all students with knowledge and skills for post-secondary education or career

iii)      Providing professional support to principals and teachers

5)       EPIC Schools

a)       SLPS has identified 11 low-performing schools, which it is treating as a sub-district for Special Incentive Grant (SIG) funding

i)         Board Member Bradford-Taylor cautioned that separating-out these schools may result in a self-fulfilling expectation of failure

b)       Changes at SIG schools since it began in 2010/11

i)         8 of the 11 schools improved their MAP performances (one made AYP)

ii)        Attendance has increased at all schools

iii)      Discipline events and suspensions have decreased in all the schools

NOTE – Dr. Adams announced that the State of Missouri is preparing a request for a waiver from the operation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and expressed his preference for the State of Louisiana’s system of non-accrediting schools, rather than Districts.

B)                 District Website

Dr. Adams reported that SLPS has a new webmaster and server. Website training was conducted in January and will continue through the year. The entire website will be up-dated during the summer with each school receiving a uniform, individualized website address. He welcomes suggestions from parents of what to include on school sites.

C)                 Mold Remediation

Dr. Adams reported that the current practice is to send written notices homes with children in the classrooms/areas where mold is found. Board Members suggested a change in the practice to provide notices to the entire school, as individuals can be adversely affected by the chemicals used in the mold removal that spreads through-out the building.

 D)        Issues at McKinley School  

Dr. Adams reported being unaware of any “issues” at McKinley School.

IV - LEGISLATION

Board Member Beffa reported that State legislators continue to grapple with a “fix” for theTurner decision, which allows students from non-accredited school districts to transfer into adjoining districts, at the expense of the non-accredited district.

The public meeting was adjourned for the Board and Superintendent to go into Executive Session.

Correction

In the February 3, 2012 edition of the Watch we identified the wrong location for the arts focused charter school Dr. Adams asked the SAB to sponsor.  It will be located in Mitchell Elementary at 955 Arcade, not Marshall at 4342 Aldine as mentioned and apologies to Alderman Sam Moore. Mitchell is not in his ward. 

Calendar

March 13, Tuesday, regular monthly Board of Education meeting, 7 p.m., Carr Lane VPA Middle School, 1004 North Jefferson. Enter from the parking lot. 

March 13, Tuesday, irregular monthly SAB meeting, 6 p.m., 801 North 11th Street, room 108.

Please note, The Schools Watch has a new mailing address, P.O. Box 1983, St. Louis, MO 63118. Our email address continues to be SLS_Watch@yahoo.com

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