Two initiative petition campaigns seeking constitutional protections for public education are suing Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins alleging he crafted “deceptive and prejudicial” summaries that will appear on the ballot.
One campaign, called “the Missouri Right to Education Initiative,” hopes to amend the state constitution to declare education a “fundamental right.”
The other, filed by an attorney with the public education law firm EdCounsel, would amend the constitution to prohibit public funding of nonpublic schools except for when it benefits disabled students. It also would label new charter schools as nonpublic.
Both believe Hoskins’ summaries were written to deceive voters and sink their chances on the ballot next year.
“It is so far away from what we proposed that it really seems like they went to great lengths to try to bring something into the conversation that is not part of this amendment,” Spencer Toder, treasurer of the Missouri Right to Education Initiative, told The Independent.
Hoskins’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to declaring education a “fundamental right,” Toder’s proposed amendment would require state lawmakers to maintain “adequate, thorough and uniform high quality free public schools.”
The summary from the Secretary of State’s Office describes the initiative as an attempt to dismantle the state’s private-school voucher program. It specifically says the initiative petition would “eliminate existing state scholarship programs that provide direct aid to students with disabilities and low-income families” and “prevent the State from supporting educational choices other than free public schools.”
Toder says the petition doesn’t touch the state’s private school scholarship program, MOScholars.
“Our intent is not to get involved in the voucher dialog. It is to ensure that no matter if vouchers exist, it doesn’t come at the expense of public school students’ quality of education,” he said. “All (the amendment) says is that the students have a guaranteed right to a quality public education.”
The second initiative petition does train its sights on MOScholars.
“We’re watching the statewide elected officials from Missouri slowly dismantle public schools, this public school system that Missourians have built,” Duane Martin, a public education attorney who filed the initiative petition, told The Independent.
Hoskins’ summary describes the proposed amendment as “eliminating existing programs that provide direct aid to students with special education needs.”
“It did not look to me like they had carefully read the initiative petition because some of what they summarized is the exact opposite of the language of the initiative petition itself,” Martin said.
Both campaigns are hoping to get on the ballot in 2026 and are in the early stages of organizing.
“I’m optimistic that a judge will look at this and see that some of the false statements that are made by the Secretary of State’s office can be corrected pretty readily,” Martin said.
Both Martin and Toder said they have not had contact with the Secretary of State’s Office other than receiving their petitions’ certification letters and serving the office with the lawsuit.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.
