The Missouri Senate's education committee approved a bill Tuesday to establish open school enrollment in the state.
The legislation would allow school districts to opt in to the program where students can choose to attend a school outside of their district.
"We essentially already have open enrollment in the state," said bill sponsor Sen. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, when he presented it to the committee last week. "But we only have it for folks who have either relatives in the district, or have the financial means to physically move themselves to a different zip code."
Trent and other proponents contended open enrollment would allow families of all means to choose their education.
"I want my niece and nephews and all students growing up in struggling school districts to have better education opportunities," said Reizhana Adams, who transferred to Mehlville High School after her home district, Riverview Gardens, lost accreditation.
Those in opposition, including Mike Lodewegen with the Missouri Association of School Administrators, said it would create instability for school budgets.
"The state coming in and telling a local community that is heavily locally funded, saying, 'You have to take kids even though you are growing,'" Lodewegen said. "I think for a lot of folks, that's a bridge too far."
Others said the state's education formula, which limits funding for school districts based on the amount of local and federal funding they receive, would be incompatible with open enrollment.
Speaking before the vote Tuesday, Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, said the Senate should be cautious about "putting the cart before the horse."
"Especially as we're looking at where we are going with the formula, this would put an incredible hindrance on all school districts being able to receive their funds," Nurrenbern said.
Districts would not be able to prevent students from leaving, but the legislation would allow them to cap outgoing students at 3% of the prior year's enrollment, with room to eventually raise the cap to 5%.
Similar legislation has passed the House but died in the Senate for the past five sessions.
Next, SB 971 will be up for debate on the Senate floor.
Abortion education
The committee also endorsed a bill that would require schools to begin teaching about abortion no later than third grade.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, would amend the state's sex education statute to require lessons on the first 16 weeks of fetal development.
According to the legislation, teachers would also need to include that "abortion ends the life of an unborn child," and Missouri's "predominant" form of the procedure after 14 weeks, dilation and evacuation, "includes the dismemberment…of the unborn child."
Schroer said the lessons could be made age-appropriate and should not be controversial because they are "just educating on human growth and development."
During a public hearing last week, several people expressed concern the legislation would oversimplify complex healthcare topics, including Dr. Christine Jackson, a Washington University OB-GYN who testified in opposition on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
"As physicians, we regularly work to correct misinformation so patients can understand their health clearly and accurately," Jackson said. "My goal here is to not limit education, but to ensure it is grounded in medical science, developmentally appropriate and focusing on improving long term health outcomes."
Nurrenbern mentioned the public hearing during a heated debate with committee chair Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, on Tuesday.
"We spent 90 minutes on that, 30 minutes on open enrollment," Nurrenbern said. "Mr. Chair, this committee has become an absolute joke."
Transgender students
Tuesday's hearing became particularly contentious with the presentation of a bill that would prohibit public and charter school teachers from recognizing a student's preferred gender.
Bill sponsor Sen. Joe Nicola, R-Grain Valley, said support from a teacher could include recognizing "changes to names or pronouns, access to sex-separated spaces like restrooms and locker rooms, participation in sex separated activities or related changes in school records."
Failure to comply would result in the educator's termination and revocation of their teaching certificate.
"When I talk with people today who are hanging on by their fingernails to stay in the classroom, it's this stuff that's forcing teachers to leave," said Nurrenbern, a former teacher of 13 years.
"They are so fed up, they want to be in the classroom for all the reasons, because they love kids and they love teaching, and this is the stuff that is handcuffing them and forcing them to leave the classroom."
Six people spoke in favor of the legislation, including some who said schools have practiced keeping secrets about their students' gender identity from parents.
"In recent years, a wave of secret transition policies have swept the nation," said Matt Sharp, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. "These policies sever the relationship between parents and children at a moment when young people may be experiencing profound emotional and psychological distress."
More than a dozen people testified in opposition, including Jodie Wagner, the St. Louis parent of a transgender daughter.
"This bill is threatening to take her right to be treated as the typical girl that she is at her school, and she shouldn't have to carry that burden," Wagner said.
Nurrenbern and Sen. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, both sparred with Brattin during the hearing. The exchanges were tense.
Webber said it was the most "egregious" hearing he'd seen, while Nurrenbern said the committee had become an "absolute spectacle."
Brattin told Webber, "You're the one going down this road. You're the one being disrespectful."
The committee didn't on the legislation Tuesday.
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