MSBA Resolutions

MSBA 2007 Resolutions

Every year at MSBA's Annual Conference, MSBA delegates convene for the Fall Delegate Assembly to vote on MSBA's legislative resolutions. In October over 190 delegates set the agenda on several important topics. Download the PDF here.

Conditions of Children

Child Nutrition Programs - MSBA supports legislation that would allow for efficient, economical school nutrition programs that provide access to healthy food to all children.

Conceal and Carry - MSBA supports legislation that removes the exemptions contained in the Concealed Carry statute that allows certain individuals to bring a weapon on school property or at school functions including weapons in vehicles or weapons carried by school board members.

Residency - MSBA supports legislation that clarifies the definition of residency of students for school district attendance purposes.

Safe Schools - MSBA supports legislation that would expand the current law to require prosecutors, in addition to juvenile authorities, to notify school districts when a student in the district has been charged with and the disposition of a misdemeanor or felony, regardless of whether or not the student is a juvenile or an adult.

Early Childhood Education - MSBA supports legislation that will offer greater technical and financial assistance to local education agencies (LEAs) to improve the quality of and access to pre-kindergarten education programs for all students. Furthermore, MSBA supports the consolidation of responsibility for early childhood programs to one state agency, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Bus Passenger Safety - MSBA supports legislation that would protect students and adults on school busses from assaults by increasing the criminal sanctions for such actions.

Mental Health - MSBA supports funding for school-based mental health services for students.

Student Retention and the High School Diploma - Missouri School Boards' Association believes all students should be required to stay in school until the age of 18 years for the purpose of earning a high school diploma or its equivalent. Therefore, we urge the legislature to require all students to remain in school until they turn 18 or have a High School Diploma or its equivalent.

Sharing Information for Student Transition in Special Education - MSBA supports legislative efforts that would streamline the sharing of information among public school districts and state and local mental health and social service agencies to track special education students after graduation to see how they are adjusting tolife. Sharing client lists, addresses and so forth is needed to insure the students and their families are receiving the services they need.

Curriculum and Accountability

Achievement Gap - MSBA recognizes the existence of an educational ‘achievement gap' between certain ethnic and socio-economic groups of students that exists in many school districts throughout the state and supports legislation that will assist state and local efforts to eliminate this disparity in achievement within a district, including providing necessary financial support.

Board Member Training - MSBA supports legislation that would create consequences for failing to obtain mandatory school board training.

Curriculum Decisions - MSBA recognizes the value of local autonomy in the development of curricular goals and objectives, and strongly believes that the ultimate decisions establishing curriculum must be made at the local level.

Student Assessment Costs - MSBA supports legislation to require the state and/or the federal government to fully fund the costs of the state and/or the federally mandated student assessment program.

Federal

Internet Sales Tax - MSBA supports legislation that would remove restrictions on the ability of states to collect sales tax revenue related to Internet transactions.

Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision - MSBA supports Federal Legislation to amend the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision to remove the Social Security provisions that unfairly exclude government pension recipients from fully accessing earned Social Security benefits.

Head Start - MSBA supports Federal Legislation to amend the Head Start Act to provide for increased collaboration between LEAs and Head Start programs over the educational outcome requirements for Head Start participants.

Higher Education - MSBA supports Federal Legislation to amend the Higher Education Act to encourage students to enter the teaching profession and offer federal student loan forgiveness to teachers.

No Child Left Behind - MSBA supports Federal Legislation to amend the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to address the barriers facing local education agencies (LEAs) in the successful and effective implementation of NCLB, particularly those provisions related to AYP, including calling upon the Congress, the Missouri General Assembly and the DESE to amend the No Child Left Behind Act to accomplish the following:

1. Fully fund, at federal and state levels, the programs that will enable the public schools to meet the requirements imposed by the legislation and standards.
2. Avoid stigmatizing groups of students as responsible for failure of particular schools to make annual progress.
3. Create positive incentives for schools, students and parents to meet the challenges created by the legislation and standards.
4. Eliminate negative, impossible sanctions and standards, such as school transfers and loss of funds that will not address the challenges faced by the public schools.
5. Federal and state dollars must support the "identified schools" in order to provide help where it is needed.
6. Take a common sense approach to AYP by using a reliable longitudinal measure of each child's academic achievement.
7. Redefine accountability to place responsibility on appropriate entities, such as stae education agencies.

Special Education - MSBA supports legislative and regulatory changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that:

1. Eliminate unnecessary administrative process requirements.
2. Designate appropriate state and local agencies to have primary financial responsibility for providing select "related services" and/or reimbursing local school districts.
3. Maintain safe learning environments for all students and staff Create incentives to improve recruitment and retention of teachers.
4. Provide for full funding of federal and state commitments to special education programs.
5. Eliminate financial burden on districts providing services to non-resident students.

Finance

A+ Schools Program - MSBA supports additional funding for the A+ Schools Program.

Diversion of Existing Revenue - MSBA strongly opposes any attempt to divert revenue committed to or intended for public education.

General Obligation Bonds - MSBA urges the General Assembly to submit to voters a constitutional amendment permitting the passage of school bond issues by a simple majority vote. MSBA urges the General Assembly to submit to voters a constitutional amendment permitting the increase of a school district's bonding capacity to 20%. MSBA supports legislation removing or reducing the surcharge by the State Auditor's Office for registering school districts' general obligation bonds.

Motor Fuel Tax Exemption - MSBA supports legislation that would exempt public school districts from paying state motor fuel tax for fuel consumed by school buses.

Non-Public School Funding - MSBA opposes the use of vouchers, tax credits, deductions for tuition and related educational expenses, and other similar credit systems to support non-public schools.

Prevailing Wage - MSBA urges the General Assembly to exempt the maintenance and construction of school facilities in third- and fourth-class counties from the state prevailing wage act.

Priority in Appropriations – MSBA believes all current and future mandated programs should be adequately funded with state and/or federal resources.

Public School Funding - The Missouri School Boards' Association supports adequate and equitable public school funding to allow all school children in every school district the opportunity to achieve state and federal student performance standards. MSBA urges the General Assembly to take all actions necessary to provide sufficient state revenues to adequately fund the public schools of Missouri.

1. MSBA supports legislation in the General Assembly to adopt a balanced state budget based upon the most current revenue information available at the time of adoption. MSBA supports legislation that would prevent the Governor from withholding monies appropriated by the General Assembly for public schools.
2. . MSBA supports changes in the state's Foundation Formula which remove the penalties for districts that have a decreased summer school enrollment.
3. c. MSBA supports legislation mandating accurate real property assessments.
4. MSBA supports legislation providing relief to districts with tax-exempt property.
5. MSBA supports amending the Missouri Constitution to authorize local boards of education to set a minimum levy as defined by the state funding formula for school districts.

Reassessment Cycle - MSBA supports the current law requiring that reassessment be conducted on a two-year cycle and urges the General Assembly to establish penalties for failure to comply with this law. MSBA supports legislation that would require county officials to certify a school district's assessed valuation in a more timely fashion in order to comply with state law regarding setting of tax rates.

School Facilities - MSBA supports legislation that establishes state and federal funding for school districts for the renovation and construction of school facilities. MSBA supports efforts to allow local school districts to pursue a wide variety of funding sources to support improving school facilities.

Tax Abatement - MSBA urges the General Assembly to strengthen laws controlling tax increment financing, urban redevelopment corporations, and enterprise zones so that school districts have greater control over their duly authorized revenues. This includes, but is not limited to, Chapter 353, Chapter 100, TIF projects and MODESA. Specific issues to be addressed should include:

1. The terms blight and conservation shall be redefined in a more restrictive manner;
2. The municipality that sponsors a TIF, and/or Chapter 353, and/or Chapter 100 projects shall be required to disclose all financial information and any other significant changes and amendments related to these developments at the time that they are proposed;
3. Replacement revenues for the merchants and manufacturers tax shall be excluded from TIF, and/or Chapter 353, and/or Chapter 100 projects;
4. School districts and other taxing entities will be parties with legal standing to participate in proceedings relating to any application for or grant of property tax exemptions or abatements with respect to property located within the boundary of such a taxing entity, including the right to appeal any grant of tax exemption or abatement and participate as a necessary party in any appeal by the taxpayer.
5. School districts and other taxing entities should continue to receive at least the amount of taxes assessed in the year immediately preceding the year of the industrial development project.
6. One Hundred percent (100%) of economic activity taxes described in Section 99.845 (3) RSMo. shall be allocated and paid to the special allocation fund to be used to discharge the TIF obligations.
7. If a redevelopment project, or portion thereof, is sold while redevelopment projects costs and obligations are outstanding, then the recipient of the proceeds of such sale, at the closing of such sale, shall pay into the special allocation fund an amount equal to the then outstanding redevelopment project costs and obligations attributable to the redevelopment project, or portion thereof, as the case may be, that was sold, at which time such redevelopment project costs and TIF obligation shall be discharged.
8. Residential projects shall not be funded by TIF, and/or Chapter 353, and/or Chapter 100.
9. The use of TIF for conservation districts and/or economic development of green field sites can only be done with explicit school board approval. To amend the TIF and MODESA statutes so that all require 50% PILOT payment unless waived all or in party by the school district.
10. Representation on the TIF board should be proportional to the impact on the taxing jurisdiction.
11. Improving disclosure of subsidies by measuring the impact of subsidies on school revenue by collecting accurate and timely data on property tax abatements and TIF (tax increment financing) and showing the aggregate data by each school district.
12. Giving local school boards veto authority over their portion of the tax abatement.

Title I Allocations - MSBA supports legislation requiring DESE to return to using free and reduced lunch count rather than census poverty data as the basis for determining Title I allocations to school districts under 20,000 total population.

Utility Deregulation - MSBA opposes any legislation designed to deregulate utilities that would have an adverse impact on school district funding.

Governance

Charter Schools - MSBA opposes the expansion of charter schools in Missouri and believes all charter schools should be authorized solely by local boards of education and held accountable to local boards of education.

Election Dates - MSBA opposes a reduction in the number of dates available to school districts for bond and levy elections.

Home Schooling – MSBA supports legislation to require parents of children attending home schools to annually notify the district where such children reside.

Interdistrict Choice - MSBA believes that any legislation which would permit parents to select schools outside of their district must:

1. Not foster racial, social or economic segregation;
2. Address all financial issues including the determination of how state and local funds will follow nonresident students and hold districts harmless from loss of funds;
3. Assure that administrative issues such as space availability and transportation are defined by the receiving districts;
4. Not be part of any tax credit, deduction for tuition and related educational expenses, and other similar credit systems, or any voucher program;
5. Require students to make at least a one-year commitment.

Local Control - MSBA supports legislation that would:

1. Expand the management and control of local schools by local boards of education;
2. Decrease bureaucracy and administrative burdens at the state and local levels.
3. Remove legislative and regulatory restrictions on local school district budget development.

Judicial System - MSBA supports maintaining a non-partisan state judicial system.

Public School Retirement System Board - MSBA supports creation of designated seats for school board members on the Board of Trustees of the Public School Retirement System. MSBA supports representation on the PSRS Board of Directors by school board members who are not members of or receiving monetary benefits from the PSRS system.

MSBA opposes modification to PSRS contribution percentages until such time as the PSRS board representation is proportional to the contribution split between employees and employers, such that if the school districts' contribution rate is 50%, school board representation on the PSRS Board should be 50%.

School Board Recall - MSBA opposes legislation that allows for the recall of local school board members.

School Innovation - MSBA supports legislation that allows school districts to operate efficiently and establish innovative educational practices.

School Start Dates – MSBA opposes legislation that would restrict the authority of the local Board of Education to set the start date for its schools.

Personnel

Certification - MSBA supports the authority of the State Board of Education to establish teacher certification requirements and urges the State Board of Education and higher education institutions to continue to provide greater flexibility in certifying professional educators, particularly in critical need areas.

Collective Bargaining - MSBA strongly opposes government-mandated collective bargaining for public employees. MSBA supports legislation providing guidelines for public sector collective bargaining including a prohibition on binding arbitration and strikes.

Employment - MSBA urges the General Assembly to replace lifetime tenure for teachers with annual or multi-year contracts.

Immunity - MSBA urges the General Assembly to enact legislation providing immunity for school employees and volunteers acting within the scope and course of their employment and service.

Salary Schedule - MSBA believes each school district should establish its own salary schedule or other system of compensation for certified and non-certified staff.

School Employees Retirement Systems - MSBA supports legislation which ensures the future solvency of the Public School and the Public Education Employee Retirement Systems.