Missouri

Candace Crawford

Legislative History
Missouri enacted a law in 1993.  
Summary of Legislation
        By the year 1997, the state board of education will 
select three school sites to participate in an experiment 
called "The New Schools Pilot Project".  This project allows 
a school to be managed by a team of five members that would 
include at least one person to be designated the principal of 
the school.  The management team is responsible for hiring 
staff but must follow the existing rules of collective 
bargaining.  The management team may apply for a waiver 
exempting them from certain rules and regulations from the 
state board of education.

Results of Law
No charter schools exist in the state of Missouri.

Conclusions
        Missouri's legislation cannot be considered charter 
school legislation.  It subscribes to none of the precepts of 
charter schools as set forth in documents such as Moulholland 
and BierleinÕs "Charter Schools: A Glance at the Issues,"  
the GAO Report "Charter Schools: New Model for Public Schools 
Provides Opportunities and Challenges" or the article in Time 
entitled "A Class of Their Own."  Those precepts include such 
as entering into a contract with the state.  According to 
Missouri's law an entity does not even apply for a charter. a 
group is granted permission to run an experimental school. 
Missouri was also not included in  Moulholland and Bierlein's 
report recently released in April 1995, "Charter Schools 
Update and Observations Regarding Initial Trends and 
Impacts."  MissouriÕs charter school law will need major 
overhaul and may even need a new law all together to be 
conducive to charter schools.