JEFFERSON CITY — A first-term Republican legislator from Lake Saint Louis wants to allow charter schools to operate in St. Charles County, and he has a major supporter on his side.
Justin Hicks last month that would allow charter schools to open in school districts located “within a county with more than four hundred thousand but fewer than five hundred thousand inhabitants,†a population that only applies to St. Charles County.
One week later, Hicks’ political action committee, Americans First, received a $10,000 donation from retired ºüÀêÊÓƵ financier Rex Sinquefield, according to filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Sinquefield is a strong proponent of school choice.
Hicks did not respond to questions about the donation or the bill.
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Charter schools are publicly funded nonprofits that are operated by unelected boards. In Missouri, charter schools are allowed to open in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Kansas City plus school districts that have been provisionally accredited by the state for three consecutive years. School districts in other areas of the state can sponsor their own charter schools, but none have done so.
Charter schools would “create several independent segregated school systems that would devastate the school districts in St. Charles County,†said Ted House, former Democratic state senator and co-founder of political action committee St. Charles County Families for Public Schools.
“It made some sense in the 1990s to experiment with charter schools in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Kansas City,†House said. “It makes absolutely no sense to implement charter schools in St. Charles County, Missouri, which has some of the best school districts in the state.â€
House said the bill from Hicks along with other Republican efforts to expand tax-credit private school vouchers and abolish the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are “part of the right-wing effort to undermine public education and ultimately defund our local schools and privatize education.â€
The conservative group St. Charles County Parents Association also opposes Hicks’ bill.
“Charter schools have been shown to be unsuccessful many times over in ºüÀêÊÓƵ and Kansas City. The last thing we need is more unelected governing boards,†reads a post on the group’s site.
Since first opening in ºüÀêÊÓƵ in 2000 to spur innovation and competition, charter schools have a mixed record. More than half of the 37 charter school operators that came to the city folded due to financial or academic failures, including La Salle and Hawthorn last year. Statewide, most charter school systems fell below the standards for full accreditation on the 2023 annual performance reports.
Sinquefield, Missouri’s top political donor, most commonly funds his priorities of lowering taxes and expanding school choice including charter schools. Part of the appeal of charters is the lack of teacher unions, one of the financier’s biggest foes.
At least one school district in St. Charles County has taken a position against charter schools. The Francis Howell School Board passed a resolution in 2017 against statewide charter school expansion. The resolution states in part that “expanding charter schools in Missouri would divert resources away from the funding available to traditional public schools.â€
Last year, the conservative majority on the Francis Howell School Board voted to rescind all prior resolutions.
The legislation is Missouri House Bill 1764.