Missouri

By: Robert Hobbs

Basic Missouri Public School Data

  • Total public school student population (Fall 2020)
    • 882,388 students
      • (Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by region, state, and jurisdiction: Selected years, fall 1990 through fall 2030 2022)
  • Average per pupil expenditure (2017)
    • $10,141
    • $1,799 below national average
      • (Current expenditures per pupil of public elementary and secondary school systems, by poverty quartile and state: Fiscal year 2017 2017)
  • High/low per pupil expenditure within state (2017)
    • Low-poverty districts: $10,447 per pupil
    • (Illustrating equality vs equity 2021)

      Low-middle poverty districts: $9,607 per pupil

    • High-middle poverty districts: $9,637 per pupil
    • High-poverty districts: $10,800 per pupil
    • The breakdown of per pupil expenditures based on the district’s level of poverty suggests that Missouri understands equity and the need to provide certain districts with more funding.
  • Average national per pupil expenditure (2017)
    • $11,940
      • (Current expenditures per pupil of public elementary and secondary school systems, by poverty quartile and state: Fiscal year 2017 2017)
  • Student demographics (2020-2021)
    • White: 69.8%
    • Black or African American: 15.32%
    • Hispanic: 7.22%
    • Asian/Pacific Islander:  2.06%
    • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.37%
    • Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0.36%
    • Two or more races: 4.92%
      • (Elsi – Elementary and secondary information system 2022)
  • Graduation rates (total, and by demographics) (2017-2018)
    • Total: 89%
    • White: 92%
    • Black or African American: 80%
    • Hispanic: 85%
    • Asian/Pacific Islander: 92%
    • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 87%
    • Two or more races: 88%
      • (Public high school 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR), by selected student characteristics and state: 2010-11 through 2017-18 2020)
  • Adoption of Common Core
    • Missouri recently dropped the Common Core Standards and adopted their own Missouri Learning Standards.
      • (Palmer, 2015; MDESE, Missouri Learning Standards)
  • Average teacher salary (2018-2019)
    • $50,064
    • National average: $61,730
      • (Estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, 1969-70 through 2018-19 Dige)
  • Presence of teachers unions/collective bargaining
    • Missouri National Education Association (MNEA)
      • Represents 32,000 education professionals
      • (Unite. inspire. lead. 2022)
    • Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA)
      • Serves more than 47,000 educators
      • (Empowering Missouri educators 2022)
    • American Federation of Teachers (AFT Missouri)
      • AFT has 1.6 million members nationwide
      • (AFT Missouri, AFL-CIO)

Analysis of Data Patterns and Inequities in the Missouri Public School Systems:

Inequities in the Missouri public school system, such as funding and per-pupil expenditures, are evident in data collected by the local, state, and federal governments. Ranking 30th in funding and 33rd in spending, Missouri is not the worst off financially but is far from the top (Hanson, 2022). Because states in America receive very little educational funding from the federal government, they need to produce most of the money internally. However, this creates massive inequities in state education funding. For example, both Massachusetts and Missouri’s state and local education funding make up 0.8% of taxpayer income, but Massachusetts ranks 6th in funding compared to Missouri’s ranking at 30th (Hanson, 2022). Missouri’s average per-pupil expenditure is $1,799 below the national average of $10,141 (Current expenditures pp 2017). Based on the data, why is Missouri’s educational funding so mediocre? State population and average income could be the answer. Missouri currently ranks 18th in state population and, in 2019, had an average household income of only $57,400, $8,300 below the national average (Median household income 2020). With less funding, areas of the Missouri school system are bound to take a hit. For example, average teacher salaries in Missouri are $11,666 below the national average, leading to possible future teacher shortages and retention problems. Funding issues can have a massive impact on a school system’s ability to provide students with a high-quality education.

However, data has shown that Missouri is countering funding inequities in the state and attempting to compensate for its lack of funding compared to other states in America. Surprisingly, when districts are broken down into four categories: low-poverty, low-middle poverty, high-middle poverty, and high-poverty districts, high-poverty districts had the greatest per-pupil expenditure at $10,800 (Current expenditures pp 2017). The per-pupil expenditures show that the Missouri government and school officials understand that certain areas and schools need more funding and expenditures to provide equity in Missouri public schooling. However, despite the positives of Missouri providing more funding to high-poverty districts, middle-poverty districts are left with significantly less per-pupil expenditures than districts with high and low poverty levels. Unfortunately, it feels as if Missouri government officials are playing whack-a-mole with new problems popping up every day in the Missouri school system. Once one problem is solved, multiple new ones appear.

 

Current Event: The American Rescue Plan Act in Missouri

Despite a history of budget and funding problems, Missouri finally has the opportunity to significantly increase the amount of money put into the public school system through The American Rescue Plan Act. Legislators wrote The American Rescue Plan Act to provide organizations and systems with more COVID-19 relief (Congress.Gov, American Rescue Plan Act of 2021). Missouri legislators are working tirelessly to pass legislation that will divide up the $1.96 billion received from The American Rescue Plan Act. While nothing is official, plans suggest that 90% of the money will go directly to school districts in Missouri (Grumke, 2022). The money will help districts provide students with improved learning conditions through the pandemic along with support for slowed learning that resulted from the pandemic (Grumke, 2022). The money from the American Rescue Plan Act is vital to the Missouri Public School System because it is all federal money, and distribution will be more equitable than funding coming from individual local levels. Local funding tends to be inequitable because, without state pooling, local funding comes from the school’s community, and disparities can arise in the amount of funds each community and district can produce. It is clear that in the proposed plan, Missouri officials are taking equity into account, as St. Louis Public Schools, a school district where about 90% of students are minorities and “74.8% of students are economically disadvantaged,” will receive over $103 million (U.S. News, St. Louis Public Schools; Grumke, 2022). The new money from The American Rescue Plan Act will provide much needed support for many schools in Missouri.

In the readings from the class, funding problems are highlighted as a significant cause for inequities across public school education. In their book, A Search for Common Ground, Pedro Noguera and Rick Hess agree that poverty and disparities in education funding can cause massive inequities. Pedro Noguera explains that the achievement gap can be caused by a school district’s inability to provide pre-school education or advanced placement programs (Hess & Noguera, 2021). Inequities in funding are a massive issue for school systems around the country, especially when the districts rely on local funding. The sooner federal funding and statewide pooled funding can be implemented, the closer school systems can get to providing each student with an equitable education.

Reference Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1axkRYioGNfngwVuM8wtC19T_yKrFFVFL/view?usp=sharing