Missouri educators sue state over $51 million appropriation to private school vouchers
The Missouri National Education Association is suing the state in an effort to block the appropriation of $51 million to MOScholars, the state's K-12 scholarship program.
In a lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court Monday, MNEA argues that state funds cannot be directly given to MOScholars under the current statute.
MNEA vice president Rebeka McIntosh and member Kimberly Duvall, who serves as president of the Blue Springs chapter of the National Education Association, are suing on behalf of the organization's 30,000 members.
'The General Assembly has far overstepped its authority and violated five provisions of the Missouri Constitution by using an appropriations bill to construct out of whole cloth a scheme to divert general revenues to what are essentially vouchers for the payment of private school tuition for elementary and secondary school students,' MNEA's attorney Loretta Haggard wrote.
MOScholars currently operates using nonprofits dubbed 'educational assistance organizations' to gather donations and distribute scholarships to students in private, parochial or home schools. Donors can receive a tax credit equal to 100% of their contribution but can use it to cover no more than half of their state tax liability.
State law allows 4% of donations to be reserved to cover the costs of administering the program, including marketing.
But the budget passed by the lawmakers 'dramatically changes the landscape,' Haggard contends.
The budget signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe Monday includes an injection of general revenue to the MOScholars program, budgeting $50 million for scholarships and $1 million to assist marketing the program.
This, MNEA argues, breaks state law for multiple reasons.
The 2021 law that created MOScholars prescribes the use of tax-deductible donations to educational assistance organizations (EAOs), not general revenue, as a funding source.
'The money for (MOScholars) scholarships comes from donations that taxpayers make to EAOs, and EAOs then remit to families. The donated funds never come into the custody of the state, and the state does not select scholarship recipients,' Haggard wrote.
The direct appropriation to the program effectively amends the MOScholars statute, the lawsuit says, which violates laws requiring legislative authorization and limits bills to a single subject. Changing statute in a budget bill is not allowed.
The money would have to flow through a fund overseen by the State Treasurer's Office which currently does not hold scholarship money. The fund is 'to be used by the state treasurer for marketing and administrative expenses or the costs incurred in administering the program, whichever is less,' according to state law.
Using the fund to administer scholarships is 'unauthorized,' the lawsuit says.
MNEA is asking for a preliminary injunction, which would block the $51 million appropriation from being transferred to the MOScholars fund while litigation ensues.
'Once the unlawful appropriations are disbursed to private entities or individuals, it will be difficult if not impossible to claw those funds back to the treasury where they belong,' the lawsuit says.
MNEA argues that the money, if given to MOScholars, would hurt public education statewide.
'Politicians in Jefferson City and their privatization lobbyists are stealing from our kids,' said Missouri NEA President Phil Murray. 'In rural Missouri, that $51 million means losing our music teacher, canceling basketball, and watching our schools crumble. They're killing our small towns.'
Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek, in an interview with The Independent in May, addressed the possibility of a lawsuit.
'We will deal with it when that happens,' he said. 'I cannot predict which course it will take.'
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