A must-read article from Missouri First. Read HERE. A taste:
"Making matters worse, the subsidies are counterfeit “school choice” because strings are attached to those subsidies in the form of government oversight of what can actually no longer be considered “private schools.”
To put that in even clearer perspective, consider the fact that if you were to subsidize each “school choice” student the $6000 it would take to make private school an option for many families, that $25 million would only help 4166 students. And 4166 is less than ½ of one percent of the 870,000 K-12 students in the state.
That’s right, Senate Republicans traded one of the largest spending increases in Missouri history, and a tremendous increase in the power of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for a sack of wooden nickles."
And this:
"But, but…. Something has to be done about the terrible government schools!
Yes, but let’s do it the right way.
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For the kids stuck in the failing government schools, give back control of local schools to the people who care most about those kids – their parents. Trust them.
Wrest back the local control that was stolen by the 1992 Senate Bill 380 – the so-called “Outstanding Schools Act.”
Relegate DESE to its original role, not the central planning behemoth it has become.
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Allow “portability” by preventing someone’s resident school district from locking them into that district. Parents should have the option of moving their children, along with the per-pupil state funding, to any other government school that will accept them. The receiving school should have complete discretion whether to accept or reject out-of-district students. Parents are responsible for transportation.
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And if you want to give home school and private school families some relief, let them keep what is theirs to start with. Any family with school age children who are not using the government schools should not have to pay school taxes."
