With under three weeks remaining in Missouri’s legislative session, Senate Education Committee Chairman Rick Brattin is forging ahead with legislation aimed at giving the public a clearer view of school spending.
Brattin, a Republican from Harrisonville, offered substitutes to five separate bills during a committee hearing Tuesday morning that added his proposal to require public schools to publish easy-to-understand financial reports on the homepage of their website. School spending is already public information, but Brattin’s legislation would create standards for how the data is displayed.
The changes set lawmakers up for a broader debate on their education priorities as the bills were opened to cover a wide swath of issues affecting public schools.
Four of the five bills amended with Brattin’s proposal received bipartisan support in the House. But with Brattin’s addition, which Senators criticized in March as creating an administrative burden for schools, Democrats now stand opposed.
State Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Democrat from Kansas City, praised a bill that would require school districts to create policies limiting screen time as “the number one thing we can do to help our kids today.” But she voted against the legislation after Brattin attached his bill.
She asked Brattin if he had “remedied any outstanding issues” on his transparency legislation after concerns were raised by Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, a Democrat from Affton.
“Not necessarily,” Brattin said. “I just wanted to continue the conversation.”
Beck has been working with Brattin to add provisions increasing oversight of the state’s private school voucher program, MOScholars.
In a Senate version introduced last month, the bill included pieces to restrict the amount of money spent on marketing and administration and require the state auditor to conduct an annual review of the program. At the time, Brattin said negotiations were “getting closer” but weren’t complete.
Last week, news that the treasurer’s office inadvertently leaked the names of MOScholars participants reinvigorated Beck’s pursuit for more transparency measures.
He pitched an amendment to a budget bill that would require lawmakers to report if their family receives MOScholars funding as part of their personal financial disclosures. His amendment failed in a 10-20 vote, but he told reporters Thursday he wasn’t abandoning the idea.
“I think there could be a path for some sort of movement,” he said. “Whether it happens by the end of this year, maybe.”
In the final weeks of the legislative session, education bills often expand to include a litany of proposals as lawmakers look for any available path to pass their priorities. Last year, lawmakers passed a 142-page education bill that made changes to 45 sections of state law. Most notably, the law established statewide restrictions on cell-phone use in schools alongside less-discussed measures, like a change in how expelled students are counted in school attendance records.
A House committee earlier this month loaded a Senate bill changing the term length for Independence School Board members with seven additional proposals, including the addition of legislation giving letter grades for public schools.
Most education bills making their way through the process are in the hands of the Senate, which has ostensibly tabled this session’s largest education proposals.
Lawmakers have until May 15 at 6 p.m. to pass their priorities before the session comes to an end, wiping all progress on the remaining bills.
