1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I urge you to strongly oppose SB998 (Hudson), SB1071 (Gregory), HB1784 (Voss), HB1801 (Matthiesen), and HB2697 (Davis). These proposed bills expand the existing MOScholars program, which provides private (often religious) or home school scholarships that are funded by donations eligible for tax credits. These bills are a direct attack on Missouri’s public education system and a dangerous vehicle for funneling public funds into unaccountable private institutions. They represent a fundamental betrayal of our commitment to equitable, high-quality education for all children. These bills would divert millions in desperately needed public dollars away from our neighborhood public schools—which serve every child regardless of background, ability, or need—and into private and virtual schools that are explicitly shielded from basic oversight. The legislation deliberately strips away accreditation requirements, ignores curriculum standards, and prohibits the state from enforcing regulations, creating a shadow system with no real accountability to taxpayers or to the students it purports to serve. History tells us the dangers that come from unregulated private religious schools, from the horrors of the Indian Boarding Schools to the recent abuse at Agape. Worst of all, these bills prioritize privilege over need. While they pay lip service to helping students with disabilities and lower-income families, the structure incentivizes picking and choosing students. Private schools retain the right to maintain their admissions policies, meaning they can reject students they deem too costly or difficult to educate, leaving our most vulnerable students behind in increasingly underfunded public schools. This is not "school choice"; it is the systemic dismantling of public education in favor of a privatized, segregated, and unequal marketplace. We must reject these bills and instead fully fund our public schools, pay our teachers, and ensure every child in Missouri has access to a well-rounded education in a safe, accountable, and inclusive environment. Our tax dollars must serve all our children, not subsidize private exclusion.