Please Ask Your Legislators To Vote Yes On House Bill 42

There is a new blast coming from Lee's Summit asking voters to contact their legislators.  If you research carefully you will see that Lee's Summit is  fooling you.  Wouldn't you like for your child to attend a charter school?  If my children had attended a charter school they would probably been able to attend college without taking remedial classes or my son wouldn't have been forced to drop out. 

Don't be fooled by the hype.  Do your research.  Don't blindly follow what you are told.  Follow the money.  They don't want transfers here because they know that Lee's Summit can't do any better of a job than Kansas City has.  They don't want their reputation harmed.  All that glitters is not gold.

Here is what they are saying.



Dear Friend of Lee's Summit R-7 Schools,
If you have not yet contacted your legislators about expensive “transfer bill,” please share your concerns as soon as possible 
Urgent request for you to express your opinion about this damaging bill
 
We are hearing that the General Assembly will very likely vote on House Bill 42 this week. If you have not already shared concerns about this negative legislation, please consider contacting your elected officials as soon as possible. We are hoping that all our the senators and representatives who represent our school district will hear from numerous citizens who are concerned about this flawed bill.

"Don't be misled by statements that this bill will not impact higher-performing districts such as Lee's Summit," said Dr. David McGehee, R-7 superintendent. "It is simply not true."

Within the last few days, two of Missouri's major newspapers have published editorials opposing this bill: 
Problems with House Bill 42 in its current form
House Bill 42, initially intended to address the issue of student transfers, has become a vehicle to push an agenda of charter and virtual school expansion without actually solving the underlying transfer crisis that is devastating north St. Louis County. The cost of this expansion will come at the expense of districts across the state, including Lee’s Summit R-7, as it is expected that a significant number of students currently attending private and parochial schools in St. Louis and Jackson County would enroll in a quasi-public charter school.

House Bill 42 is being debated this week after a small group of senators and representatives developed a new proposal during a conference committee last week. The version of House Bill 42 will expand charter schools to nearly all districts in St. Louis and Jackson Counties, including Lee's Summit R-7. (The Center School District in Jackson County was exempted from charter school expansion because the local senator was on the conference committee.) Also, taxpayers in these areas will be forced to pay for students in their districts to attend a virtual school of the child’s/parent's choice and the scores of which will be counted for or against the local school district. In addition, any student who attends an unaccredited school building in the state of Missouri shall be allowed to transfer to another school within the school district. However, if space does not exist, then students would be allowed to transfer to a neighboring district at a cost to the student's district of residence.

The most expensive part of the bill is the expansion of charter and virtual schools for students currently enrolled in private and parochial schools in St. Louis and Jackson County. According to data obtained from Private School Review, there are nearly 68,000 students enrolled in private schools in those areas. While it is not expected that all or even a majority of those students will leave to attend a charter school, several thousand would likely take advantage of this new option. It is estimated that passage of this bill will reduce funding for public education available through the state funding formula by millions of dollars.

Because the Missouri foundation formula is more than $300 million underfunded, the cost of this expansion will be borne by all 520 school districts in the state of Missouri. Despite the significant cost, the bill does not even achieve the original intent of the legislation: to fix the transfer crisis. At its simplest level, a "fix" is two-fold. First, to allow districts receiving students to set the number of seats that are available within their school district and, second, to ensure that an unaccredited district is not bankrupted by the cost of transfers. While House Bill 42 does allow receiving school districts to set class sizes, it does not address the cost of transfers. With the Normandy School District set to go bankrupt next year without some financial relief, it is likely that the district will be attached to another district or districts in St. Louis County after the current school year.

Would you consider contacting your legislators immediately and urging them to oppose House Bill 42?

Thank you for your support of Lee’s Summit R-7 students and schools!

Senators and representatives who serve our school district follow and are also available at our website.
Dist. 9 Senator Shalonn “Kiki” Curls
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 434
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Sheron.Fulson@senate.mo.gov
573.751.3158

Dist. 7 Senator Jason Holsman
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 421
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Jason.Holsman@senate.mo.gov
573.751.6607

Dist. 8 Senator Will Kraus
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 418
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Will.Kraus@senate.mo.gov
573.751.1464

Dist. 11 Senator Paul LeVota
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 330
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Paul.LeVota@senate.mo.gov
573.751.3074

Dist. 34 Rep. Rebecca Roeber
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 116-3
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Rebecca.Roeber@house.mo.gov
573.751.1456

Dist. 35 Rep. Gary Cross
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 112
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Gary.Cross@house.mo.gov
573.751.1459

Dist. 30 Rep. Mike Cierpiot
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 302B
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Mike.Cierpiot@house.mo.gov
573.751.0907

Dist. 33 Rep. Donna Pfautsch
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 236B
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Donna.Pfautsch@house.mo.gov
573.751.9766

Dist. 37 Rep. Joe Runions
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 101F
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Joe.Runions@house.mo.gov
573.751.0238

Dist. 31 Rep. Sheila Solon
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 305B
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Sheila.Solon@house.mo.gov
573.751-8636

Dist. 55 Rep. Rick Brattin
201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 114C
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Rick.Brattin@house.mo.gov
573.751.3783

Dist. 29 VACANT
District includes small part of R-7
201 W. Capitol Ave.
Jefferson City, MO 65101

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