...to kill a Mockingbird

The Show-Me Institute Blog has a really interesting insight into the Teacher Pay bill that died briefly (and is currently being pulled from its shallow grave). The language (providing tax credits for donations made into a scholarship fund) stripped from the bill was a seemingly fatal blow for the millions of dollars in raises to public school teachers. If you’re not familiar with the politics of the issue, it goes a little like this: teachers unions in the state (and nationally) are diametrically opposed to tuition tax credits or any options/choice the state may offer to kids who default to the public schools and keep them in business, so to speak. The teachers unions in Missouri have been pushing this essential pay-raise package for teachers (and now nurses and bus drivers), and when it made it into an Omnibus education bill in the house this week, it came with the same language of scholarship tax credit for special needs children they’ve been working overtime to kill.

Here is what the Show-Me Institute writes about this conundrum:


Somebody had the great idea of attaching the Special Needs Tax Credit bill to the teacher pay bill — which is a pretty brilliant idea, in my opinion. If the teachers' unions support increased teacher pay (with no merit pay, of course ... that would just be too crazy for us to pay good teachers what they deserve), and the school choice advocates support tax credits for autistic children, why not combine both provisions?

It turns out, though, that that was the deal-breaker.

From the Post-Dispatch’s coverage:

When the scholarship program was inserted into the teacher pay bill last week, two large teacher groups dropped their support for it. A lobbyist for the Missouri National Education Association said his group was "passionately opposed."

What a shock.

Who are the teachers' unions looking out for? The teachers, the students, or their own institutional power? The unions decided that they would rather prevent teachers — the people they reportedly represent — from earning pay raises so that they could ensure that no infinitesimal limit to their power could take root in a tax credit bill designed to help autistic children who aren’t being served by the public schools.

I’m sorry, students and teachers of Missouri, that there are people out there working so hard to prevent improvements in the state's education system.

Unfortunately, that assessment seems right on target given what went down.

Dead? Or Merely Sleeping?

An update:

Missouri’s Special Needs Scholarship tax credit legislation was recently folded into an Omnibus Education Bill on teacher pay, HB 2040/2430. Legislators debated the language about Special Needs students in an especially heated session this Wednesday. Speaker Rod Jetton’s comments allude to the incident of an altercation between Speaker Pro-Tem Steve Tilley and Representatives Trent Skaggs and Brian Nieves. I imagine it happened in a “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” kind of way, after reading some eye-witness reports.

Ultimately, the scholarship language was stripped from the bill via an amendment from Rep. Maynard Wallace, a former public school Superintendent.

Speaker Pro-Tem Tilley was quoted as saying that the teacher pay bill wouldn’t “see the light of day” after the loss of the scholarship tax credit language, but the cry this morning is that the bill may be resurrected. It’s a significant loss for both sides of the aisle if assistance for both teachers and special needs children cannot come to terms with one another.

We’ll see what the day brings. You've gotta admire Tilley for putting his foot down on this one.

Rep. Scharnhorst discusses Bryce's Law

The need for autism education reform in Missouri

Two paths diverge in the wood

I went to a public school from Kindergarten through high school graduation, and received a great education. I took several honors classes and greatly benefited from them. My science teachers helped me gain an affinity for Chemistry and Physics, I took journalism classes and jewelry class; I sang and danced after school in nationally competitive choirs and learned to love government and politics.

I was very well prepared to write in college, and I felt well-prepared all around. My teachers were inspiring and challenging, so I know from experience how good public schools can be, and I wouldn’t have traded my public school for any private school. I think I was actually better prepared than some of my college mates who had gone to private schools.

So take me quite seriously when I recognize the limits of a public school. I know many students who did not excel in our public school, one in particular was my brother. He is a much more visual and auditory learner, and in recognizing the differences between us as learners I can understand that a public school that focuses on learning through reading is not always the best fit. The same can be said of special needs education. Many students will thrive with what public education has to offer, but those who are not will benefit more from an education that meets them where they are cognitively and developmentally.

My public high school offered choices. We had an adjoining program that offered lots of hands-on classes, and my brother took to culinary arts and did very well. I think his success there even motivated him to try harder at courses that were more difficult for him.

One Thanksgiving my brother made a gorgeous and delicious apple pie from scratch, which was a sort of symbol for me. I cannot bake to save my life! Even the kits where you only have to add water are a challenge—they always seem to end up burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. And I know my brother would not have that skill, which has led him to a great job in nutrition at an Alzheimer’s care facility, if he hadn’t had the opportunity to take those classes.

For all of the kids in Missouri who simply need something else, the proposed tuition tax credit scholarship for special needs students can make that happen, especially for families that cannot afford it on their own. My public school saw the benefit of offering choices and many kids really excelled because of it. It doesn’t mean that public school are bad—certainly in many cases they are amazingly proficient—it just means that schools, like the students they teach, aren’t perfect or flawless. Offering choices in education means simply that more schools can work at meeting a child’s need, and that child in turn can take his or her skills where they will be most nurtured.

Tax Credits are all around us--why not for Special Needs education?

Tax Credits come in many colors, shapes and sizes. On March 11, 2008, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill giving a tax break for Missourians who buy US-made hybrid vehicles.

The bill allows the purchaser of said hybrid to deduct either $2000 or 10 percent of the vehicle’s price (whichever is less).

Another tax credit for Agriculture called the New Generation Cooperative Incentive tax credit (quite a mouthful) has gotten some media attention as Missouri elected officials have taken advantage of them. Specifically, Rep. John Quinn’s farm has received over $200,000 in credits; Sen. Wes Shoemyer has received over $12,000; Sen. Bill Stouffer has received nearly $24,000.

Rep. Brian Munzlinger has received nearly $25,000 in tax credits; Rep. Therese Sander’s husband Theodore has received $18,000 in tax credits; Rep. Jim Whorton has received $5,000 in tax credits; Rep. Terry Witte has received $2,600 in tax credits; and Sen. Frank Barnitz with $1,250 in tax credits.

A tax credit for preserving historic buildings gives a tax deduction of 25% of rehabililitation costs. The Film Production Tax Credit Program provides a state income tax credit to qualified film production companies up to 50% of the company's expenditures in Missouri for production, not to exceed $1 million in tax credits per project. There are many other tax credits mainly focused on stimulating economy and agriculture in Missouri. Neighborhood Assistance Program and Youth Opportunities Program tax credits have been awarded to religious not-for-profits who benefit the community through social projects. Federally, we have tax credits for college tuition, housing and redevelopment.

Tax credits are used to reward good behavior or offset costs for low-income of economically burdened people or businesses. With the myriad of tax credits out there, what is standing in the way of a tax credit for special needs students? The financial burden falls to the family to pay for everything from insurance to tutoring, and again their costs rise when they have to move to another school district or pay for a private school in an effort to get what many people take for granted: an appropriate education.

Let’s reward good behavior, like philanthropists and businesses donating to a fund that offsets tuition costs. Let’s support the families who are supporting Missouri’s precious special needs children and helping them become participating members of society.