ACTION NEEDED: Stop the Missouri Senate’s Charter Bill 649
Senate Bill 649 was heard and passed out of the Senate General Laws committee on Tuesday January, 28 and is now speeding towards the Senate floor. This is no doubt a coordinated attempt to push a charter school expansion through the Senate, the chamber that has historically prevented these bills from passing.
Write to your Senator TODAY and tell them to vote no on this bill.
Not surprisingly, this bill is moving the same week that U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke in Jefferson City on the virtues of school choice and Senator Gary Romine, a public school advocate, was appointed to the Missouri State Tax Commission and is no longer available to filibuster. This is a coordinated attack on public education in Missouri.
Senate Bill 649 would expand charter schools beyond the Kansas City and St. Louis school districts in the following circumstances:
- School districts located in counties with a charter form of government (Jackson, St. Charles, St. Louis and Jefferson Counties), excluding accredited school districts with less than 3,000 students.
- School districts in a city with a population greater than 30,000 with only one school district, except in any accredited district with 3,000 students or less, excluding accredited school districts with less than 3,000 students.
Do not be fooled into thinking that these are the only school districts targeted for charter schools!