The legislation that weighed heaviest on my shoulders this session is Senate Bill 727.

It is a large omnibus education bill that we were told fixes everything. We were told by the bill sponsor and his followers that this bill was education reform at its finest. I was told something else by the school administrators in my district. I believed the folks back home.

The battle to pass this legislation was carried out in quiet negotiations. The $500 million dollar price tag was seldom mentioned. Thursday morning, April 18th, all of the bill sponsor’s stars began to line up. An hour or so of floor debate and the speaker called for a roll call vote. The legislation needed 82 votes to pass and at the moment the required number of yes votes were cast, voting ended. SB727 was truly agreed and finally passed on to the Governor’s desk.

There are many reasons I opposed SB727. I am not comfortable with the unsustainable cost in an uncertain economic future. I am not in favor of giving public money to private schools. And, this new education bill favors urban schools at the expense of our small rural public schools.

Education reform has been a bullet point for conservative Republicans. I think you might find it interesting to know the GOP Republican platform expressly calls for decisive action to correct the educational crisis in urban areas. Nowhere in the Republican platform does the education policy address the needs of our rural schools.

Time will tell whether or not this bill is good for Missouri education. It is not a quick fix. Some of our local school administrators worry this house of cards could come tumbling down. I worry with them.

Please feel free to contact the office with any questions or concerns. My email is bruce.sassmann@house,mo.gov or call Jill Ryals @ 573-751-6668.