

March 19, 2009 Volume 5, Number 11
In This Issue Two Education Bills Visitors of the Week Cynthia in the News A Little Bit of Humor… Contact Me *Representative* *Cynthia Davis* 19^th District *Majority Floor Whip* Missouri State Capitol Room 112 201 W. Capitol Ave. Jefferson City, MO 65101 Phone: 573-751-9768 Website http://www.cynthiadavis.net/ E-Mail cynthia.davis@house.mo.gov Committees Special Committee on Children and Families *Chair* Interim Committee on Poverty *Chair* Health Care Policy Elections Special Committee on State Parks and Waterways State Links State of Missouri *Official Homepage for Missouri State Government* Missouri General Assembly *Official Government Homepage for your Missouri Senator and Representative* House of Representatives *Look up Missouri House Bills – View Entire Text, Summary, and Last Action* Missouri State Senate *Look up Missouri Senate Bills* Attorney General's Office *Consumer Complaints & Fraudulent Activity, No-Call List* Local Links St. Charles County Government City of O'Fallon City of Dardenne Prairie City of St. Peters City of Wentzville City of St. Charles City of St. Paul Federal Links Congressman Todd Akin Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer Senator Kit Bond Senator Claire McCaskill Other Links Missouri State Constitution Missouri State Jobs		Two Education Bills: It’s All About School Choice If we want better outcomes, we need to look at new ideas. HB 242, a bill that has passed the House and is now on the list of bills in the Senate, gives school districts the option to establish a four-day school week. The number of required hours in a school year remains the same, but the bill allows the schools to have more freedom on how they parcel it up. Educational excellence in Missouri is a top priority, yet excellence can come in many forms. This bill allows school districts to shave at least 20 percent off overhead costs from transportation and heating and reduces the need for substitute teachers. That leaves more funds available for education essentials and allows schools to be more prudent and wise in directing their funds. A four-day school week could also mean improved attendance rates for both students and teachers. Freeing up one extra weekday allows more time for sporting events, for doctor appointments, and for parents to spend with their children. In addition, the attractiveness of a four-day work week could make staff recruitment easier. We need to be creative when considering what will benefit the students most. A four-day school week allocates more time to focus on the quality of education. Students who are struggling may be able to use the free weekday for remedial programs, and the teachers willing to help could be paid extra. The extra day could also be used by teachers for professional development and ongoing education. Currently, 17 states have adopted the four-day-week option and are experiencing a positive effect on attendance and an increase in test scores. A Webster County School District in Kentucky saved more than $150,000 and ranked much higher on state-wide standardized tests: from 111^th in 2003 to 53^rd in 2007. Most of the opposition in the debate on this bill sounded like we were discussing a state-run orphanage. Some legislators were concerned that the school children would not get anything to eat if they were not at school. This kind of reasoning bothers me because it presumes that our public schools are little more than glorified day care centers. The purpose of public education must always be education. The parents are the ones who are supposed to be feeding the children. Additionally, I have never heard of a child starving to death because he didn’t attend public school over the three-month recess. In general, people are fearful of any change. However, part of why I had an easy time supporting this bill is because of the fine example of the Francis Howell School District. Because it worked well to allow Francis Howell to determine its own school-year calendar (even if it meant going year round with a cycle break), I have faith in the school board to make anything work. We give them a gift when we allow them to be self-directed for the benefit of the children of the district. (I have not heard any stories of children starving during cycle break either.) The success in other states of school districts with four-day school weeks is encouraging. If the final bill passes, I trust our local school boards’ judgment on deciding whether this option would be a good fit for their schools. Ultimately, the school boards are charged with seeing to it that our children are offered the best education possible. If the four-day week doesn’t work out well, the board will have to answer to the parents. The state does not know better than the local school boards. How much less does Congress know about our schools from the remote vantage point of Washington, D.C.? To hear a one-minute video on our debate in the House, click here: House Approval of HB 242. The second educational bill designed to promote better education options is one that I sponsored, HB 47. I presented this bill before a house committee last week. HB 47 allows parents who choose alternatives to public education for their children to receive a credit off their real estate taxes paid to their local school district. This bill is a quadruple win for everyone: The state wins by being spared between $2,300 and $5,000 average per pupil. The local school district is spared $4,000- $6,000 average per pupil. The family is credited with a small amount that can be less than or equal to the liability owed in local taxation to the school district by providing proof of expenses. Best of all, the student wins because he receives the kind of education best suited for his individual circumstances for that school year. *Your thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what* *you think of these education proposals. You can send me your opinion by clicking here:* *Cynthia Davis* Visitors of the Week Students from Willott Road Christian Academy visited the Capitol. I was so happy to meet with them and discuss some of the activities in this year’s session. Cynthia in the News Scholarships for stay-at-home moms proposed in Missouri (excerpt) By Roseann Moring ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 02/19/2009 JEFFERSON CITY — Being a stay-at-home mom might become a bit more lucrative in Missouri. Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, is sponsoring a bill that would give women, but not men, $600 in scholarship money per year for every year they have a child or children under the age of 15 and do not earn more than $1,000. "When you take a mom out of the work force, she is sacrificing quite a bit," Davis said in a Higher Education Committee hearing. She said the bill was a response to federal law, which gives a tax credit for day care but not for stay-at-home-moms. Davis' measure would leave most of the details to the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, which would control the implementation and the rules of the scholarship, which is not based on need. The bill does not stipulate when the mother must use the scholarship. Davis said women could save the scholarship money for years, and perhaps even go back to school after their children were older, or could take a few classes a year. "If a mom feels like she needs to be there for her children, she can," she said. The amount of money these mothers receive would increase with inflation. The program would cost an unknown amount less than $100,000 for the next three fiscal years, according to an official state estimate. "Every rule we pass in this building either encourages or discourages a behavior," Davis said, and added that this rule encouraged women to stay at home with their children. "When your child falls down and gets a boo-boo, you're there to kiss it better." Davis said the bill would also help women re-enter the work force after their children were grown. A Little Bit of Humor Teacher: Class, we will have only half day of school this morning. Class: Hooray! Teacher: We will have the other half this afternoon. This Capitol Report is a weekly column by Representative Cynthia Davis, from the 19^th District, covering events in the Missouri Legislature and district-wide issues. J If you know of anyone else who would like to receive my Capitol Report, please send an e-mail to Cynthia.Davis@house.mo.gov with the person’s name and e-mail address. We’ll add them to the list. L If you would like to stop receiving the Capitol Report, email us at Cynthia.Davis@house.mo.gov with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.