Missouri governor signs sweeping education bill targeting 4-day weeks, boosting private schools

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday signed into law a sweeping education bill requiring voters to decide whether large school districts can shift to four-day school weeks and expanding a scholarship program for students to attend private or charter schools.

Parson, a Republican, on Tuesday touted a provision in the new law that raises minimum teacher pay from $25,000 to $40,000 starting next year.

“I have and always will support Missouri teachers,” Parson said. “Since the beginning of our administration, we’ve looked at ways to increase teacher pay and reward our educators for the hard work they do, and this legislation helps us continue that progress.”

The legislation has faced criticism from the Independence School District, which last year became the largest school system in the state to try a four-day week in an attempt to entice staff.

It would require school districts in Jackson, Clay, St. Louis, Jefferson and St. Charles counties, or districts that serve more than 30,000 residents, to receive approval from a majority of voters in the district by 2026 in order to keep a four-day week or to begin offering it.

Under current state law, school board members can decide whether a district shifts to a four-day week. The legislation would not affect smaller districts in more rural parts of the state.

The legislation largely split lawmakers along party lines with some Democrats excoriating its high cost. It passed the House on a vote of 82 to 69 and passed the Senate on a vote of 19 to 10.

Rep. Phil Christofanelli, a St. Peters Republican who handled the bill in the House, said last month that the legislation was “taking care of parents.”

“A lot of parents got frustrated seeing their schools go to four days in big suburban communities when you need to get your kids to work,” Christofanelli said on the House floor.

Democrats were able to tack the provision regarding four-day weeks to the larger bill in the Senate.

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