Buoyed by encouragement from Gov. Mike Parson, state education officials are asking Missouri lawmakers to earmark $140 million more for schools next year.
In a meeting last week, the state Board of Education unanimously endorsed a proposed $6.3 billion budget that attempts to ramp up funding for school transportation costs, which are only being funded at about 17 percent of the total need.
Jennifer Jordan, chief budget officer for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the agency is asking for more money over a five-year span to get to 75-percent of busing costs.
“Transportation is short of full funding by $198 million,” Jordan told the board.
About $77 million of the proposed increase would go toward fully funding the foundation formula, which sets out how much each school district will receive in the next fiscal year.
In May, lawmakers approved a budget that included $3.49 billion for the formula. But, the base level of state funding is going up to $6,370 per student, resulting in the request for more money.
Despite the proposed increase, board member Mike Jones bemoaned the shortfall in transportation funding.
“There’s no way for the public to understand how under-resourced K-12 education is in Missouri,” Jones said.
But, board president Charlie Shields said the Parson administration has encouraged the agency to tell lawmakers what is actually needed to fund schools, rather than tailoring their requests for money to a limited amount of dollars.
“What’s being presented is radically different from what we’ve been doing in previous years,” Shields said. “This is what we think the priorities are.”
Shields also said he expects the Legislature to have a “robust” discussion on increasing funding for early childhood education programs.
“I think it’s a high priority for the governor,” Shields said.
The request now heads to Parson’s budget office, where it will be combined with other proposed state spending. Parson, the former lieutenant governor, is crafting his first budget blueprint after taking over for scandal-plagued former Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned June 1.
This year, the budget that went into effect in July gave schools a nearly $99 million increase, allowing lawmakers to claim the state is meeting its core school funding goals outlined in state law. It also boosted state aid for school transportation costs by $10 million.
The board also approved a plan for hiring the next commissioner of education. Roger Dorson has been serving as the interim head since Margie Vandeven was terminated on Dec. 1 after Greitens had stacked the board with his own appointees.
Shields said the process would be similar to the last two searches for commissioners. The job will be posted this week and stay open for a month. A small committee of the board would then narrow down the applicants with an eye on making an offer in November.
Shields said Dorson might be considered for the top post.
“We have a very high functioning interim commissioner in Roger Dorson,” Shields said.
The board attempted to launch a hiring plan after Vandeven was ousted, but the ongoing wrangling over Greitens’ intervention on the board may have tamped down interest in the high-profile post.
The board received just 10 applications for the job before the process was halted.
That compared to more than 40 applications for a similar job opening in Ohio and more than 50 in Michigan.