'Fragile' open enrollment bill unlikely to pass despite sponsors' optimism

By Emmet Jamieson, Missouri News Network
Posted 5/1/23

JEFFERSON CITY — The legislature’s top open enrollment advocates both say they feel optimistic about passing legislation this session — but possible changes to the flagship bill in …

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'Fragile' open enrollment bill unlikely to pass despite sponsors' optimism

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JEFFERSON CITY — The legislature’s top open enrollment advocates both say they feel optimistic about passing legislation this session — but possible changes to the flagship bill in the Senate could sink it.

House Bill 253 would create a voluntary open enrollment program that would allow public school students to transfer from their home district to any other public school district that has opted into the program.

Students may leave a district that has not opted in for another district that has, but the percentage of students who can transfer out of a district in any year may not exceed 3% of that district’s enrollment the previous year.

Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, is the sponsor of HB 253, which he characterized as a “well-crafted, moderate parent choice bill.” The House passed HB 253 by a narrow 85-69 vote on March 8, and the Senate Fiscal Oversight and Education and Workforce Development committees have both greenlit it.

Pollitt pointed out that the bill’s slim margin in the House makes it “very fragile.”

“I’m going to tell you 15 or 20 of those folks (who voted for HB 253) will not vote for any other parent choice bill except this one,” Pollitt said. “So my concern would be that if there’s additional stuff put on this bill that any of those ‘yes’ votes find sensitive, they cannot vote for the bill, and it really puts the bill in jeopardy coming back over to the House.”

But Pollitt said that of the three open enrollment bills the House has passed in the last few years, he believes HB 253 has the best chance of clearing the Senate.

One reason is because four freshman senators who served in the House the last two years — Republican Sens. Rusty Black, Mary Elizabeth Coleman, Nick Schroer and Curtis Trent — have heard debate on open enrollment bills and voted for them both times.

Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, chairs the Senate Education Committee. He said he likes HB 253’s chances but “fully expected” the bill could only pass the Senate if senators can add “pieces that might be unrelated to open enrollment.”

This is because many senators have other education priorities, Koenig said, and adding those priorities to the bill would be the easiest way to stop a filibuster.

One flashpoint is charter schools. HB 253 does not incorporate charter schools into its open enrollment program, but Koenig said his preference would be to include them when the bill comes to the Senate floor.

Pollitt said adding charter school expansion or other school choice options to HB 253 could make it “very problematic in the House.”

Another priority senators may try to integrate into the bill concerns tax levies — the rate at which the assessed value of a property is taxed. Higher levies translate into more money for the local school district.

Koenig said some Democratic senators worry open enrollment might create a free rider problem. Families who live in areas with low tax levies could transfer their students to districts with high levies to benefit from these districts’ facilities without paying for them.

Accordingly, Koenig said he plans to introduce language forbidding districts from lowering their tax levies if a lot of students leave.

A final point of contention is the 3% cap on transfers-out. Rep. John Black, R-Marshfield, added this to HB 253 as an amendment. Black said small schools in his district feared the consequences of open enrollment. He said he wanted to ensure schools that lose students would do so gradually so they can adapt, not undergo the jarring shock of losing large numbers of students all at once.

Black said the cap allowed him and many other representatives to support the bill, which he called “carefully crafted.”

“I’d have trouble supporting it (without the cap),” Black said. “My guess is if they take that out, they will offer other amendments to the bill, which could make it problematic for me and a lot of other people.”

Koenig said the cap is unnecessary because the bill does not require schools to add teachers or classrooms to accommodate new transfers, setting a de facto cap. He said he would prefer not to have the 3% cap and would fight to take it out.

The original version of Pollitt’s bill allows schools with a desegregation or diversity plan to declare an exemption. An amendment from Rep. Justin Hicks, R-Lake St. Louis, struck out that language.

Hicks’ amendment provides that students whose home district has a desegregation plan or order may transfer as long as their transfer does not conflict with that plan or order. Koenig did not comment on how this amendment may fare in the Senate.

The original language of the bill could have implicated the 14th Amendment, Hicks said, because it could have created “racial quotas” on open enrollment. He added that he does not believe most desegregation orders are necessary anymore but put in the language so HB 253 does not run afoul of federal law.

“The language cleans it up and makes sure that all Missourians are able to participate, no matter what background you come from,” Hicks said. “This program is for all.”

The objective of HB 253, Pollitt said, is to give parents and students more choice in education. Some small schools worry open enrollment would force them to consolidate or cause them to rapidly lose students, but Pollitt said this “is not at all why this bill was brought up.”

Pollitt, who worked as a school administrator in his career, said he hopes open enrollment would encourage school districts to improve so students don’t want to transfer out. He added that small schools are the lifelines of their communities and that many families in small districts love their school too much to leave it.