By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – If states are going offer families school choice, they should take the full plunge.

Limited choice, with the only options being traditional public school districts, fails to fully address many issues.

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One obvious problem recently bubbled to the surface in Missouri, which passed a law allowing students in school districts that have lost their accreditation to transfer to other districts. The home districts would have the responsibility to pay tuition to the other districts.

But other districts may not have enough room for them.

A perfect example is the Mehlville school district, which apparently lacks the space to accept busloads of students from the nearby Riverview Gardens district and still remain within the boundaries of state-designated class sizes, according to StlToday.com.

The same may very well be the case in many other Missouri districts that are located near the handful of unaccredited districts.

Yet there are probably many private schools that would be more than happy to accept students from struggling schools, provided they have state vouchers to pay for their tuition.

Similar programs are growing and thriving in several other states, including Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida and Louisiana. Many courts have come to accept voucher programs, based on the premise that the state gives education money to parents, and they choose where to spend it.

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In that way the state is not directly supporting parochial schools.

An effort was recently made in the Missouri legislature to create such a voucher program, but it failed to gain the necessary votes, according to an editorial written by State Rep. Mike Cierpiot.

Cierpiot is among those who supported HB 1740, which would have allowed individuals (and we assume companies) to contribute to a scholarship fund for private school tuition.

While Cierpiot’s editorial doesn’t specify, we assume the program would have worked the same way it does in other states, where contributors are given state tax credits in exchange for their donations.

“As you might expect, one problem both St. Louis and Kansas City have is that there are more students wanting out of the failed districts than there are empty seats in neighboring accredited districts,” Cierpiot wrote.

“I supported (HB 1740) because it seemed to me a good way to allow the children and families who have  been utterly failed by their public schools for more than 30 years a chance at a decent education without overwhelming neighborhood districts,” Cerpiot wrote.

“As a proud member of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, I supported HB1740 in committee. Immediately after the committee vote the ‘education establishment’ went nuclear and began accusing me of being anti-public schools.

“I voted for HB1740 knowing the powerful public school lobby would come after me, but I did it because I have a responsibility to help keep our schools great, and Missouri has a responsibility to give these kids in failing districts a chance at the American dream.”