The constitutionality of Missouri using general revenue to fund private-school scholarships will be debated Monday and Tuesday in Cole County Circuit Court.
The Missouri National Education Association is seeking to stop the state from distributing more tax dollars to private schools, saying the $50 million appropriation of general revenue to the MOScholars program is illegal.
Currently, the state has used $38.1 million of the $50 million allocated by the legislature for scholarships, according to the deposition of Trent Blair, program manager for the State Treasurer’s Office.
The MNEA is asking a judge to stop the outflow of the remaining funds and bar the state treasurer from creating new rules for MOScholars that revolve around the use of general revenue.
“The General Assembly has far overstepped its authority and violated five provisions of the Missouri Constitution by using an appropriations bill to construct out of whole cloth a scheme to divert general revenues to what are essentially vouchers for the payment of private school tuition for elementary and secondary school students,”Loretta Haggard, the teacher’s union’s attorney, wrote in a September court filing.
A month prior, Judge Brian Stumpe denied the MNEA’s request to issue a temporary restraining order that would bar the state from using any of the $50 million while the court case plays out. Stumpe did not elaborate on the denial and simultaneously denied the state’s request to dismiss the case.
The MNEA contends the appropriation of general revenue to MOScholars is not authorized in state statute. It frequently cites the 2021 law that set up the MOScholars program, which uses nonprofits as funding administrators.
The law describes the program as donation-based. Donations are eligible for a tax credit equal to 100% of the contribution up to 50% of an individual’s tax burden. But funding MOScholars directly through state revenue, as was done in the fiscal year 2026 budget passed in May, lacks “statutory framework,” Haggard argues.
Statutory silence on whether a program can use general revenue does not mean the state is barred from doing so, William Seidleck, principal deputy solicitor general, told Stumpe in August.
“The pertinent question… is not whether the underlying statute allows beyond doubt an appropriation from the treasury — it is instead whether it obviously prohibits the General Assembly’s action,” Seidleck wrote in a September filing.
Joining the defense of the $50 million voucher program is EdChoice, an Indiana-based advocacy group representing three families who say they benefit from the state’s funding of MOScholars. The group’s attorney is Todd Graves, a prominent Kansas City lawyer and chairman of the Herzog Foundation — which has an affiliated nonprofit that is one of six organizations soliciting donations for and administering MOScholars scholarships.
The trial is likely to revolve around the interpretation of state law, with few exhibits and witnesses listed in pre-trial filings.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Monday.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.
