Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon plans to veto legislation that would have allowed students in the unaccredited Kansas City school district to transfer to private schools.
In a statement Friday, Nixon blasted state lawmakers for failing to fix the current school transfer law.
“Throughout the legislative session I repeatedly made it clear that any effort to send public dollars to private schools through a voucher program would be met by my veto pen,” Nixon said. “The General Assembly ignored my warnings, and this veto will be the result.”
State lawmakers' plan would have limited private school vouchers to students in unaccredited districts in metro Kansas City and St. Louis. Only non-secretarian schools could have accepted state money.
Nixon's veto also takes other parts of the transfer fix off the table, including a provision to shift the burden of paying for transportation from the unaccredited district to families taking advantage of the law.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a statement saying it would continue to work with the options available under the current transfer law.
