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Same goal, different designs in A-F accountability bills
This week, the Missouri Senate Education Committee held its hearing on S.B. 1194, advancing the conversation around Missouri’s proposed move to an A-F school accountability system. The House Education Committee passed out of committee its version of A-F accountability, HB 2710.
Both chambers’ proposals agree on broad strokes: a statewide A–F report card that translates school performance into a 0–100 score and a letter grade that parents can understand quickly. The disagreement is over how the system should work once it’s in place.
One major difference is in how grades for schools are set. The House version leans into a relative ranking model. An “A” goes to the top 10% of schools on the composite score, with the rest of the scale filled in below.
The Senate version is closer to a fixed-threshold approach, and it includes a built-in “ratchet,” meaning if 65% of schools reach an A or B, the score cutoffs tighten by five points the next year.
Supporters see a ratcheting model as a way to prevent the system from getting stale. Skeptics see a moving target that could make progress harder to track.
School participation (or lack thereof) is another differentiator:
- The Senate bill includes an automatic one-letter downgrade if fewer than 95% of students take the state assessment.
- The House bill still requires participation to be clearly reported, but it stops short of forcing a grade drop.
Both bills also try to create an incentive layer through a “Show Me Success” concept, but they’re built differently.
The Senate locks in per-student bonuses for top performers and top growth, with dollars directed to one-time bonuses for faculty and classroom staff. The House keeps the idea of recognition and rewards but gives the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) more flexibility to define award amounts and criteria.
Think growth in student proficiency, multi-year improvement, improvement for historically underserved students, readiness, and literacy, among other options.
The Senate bill moves faster on timing, requiring DESE to provide embargoed A–F results to schools by July 15 and publicly release them by August 15. Meanwhile, the House bill sets a later timeline, with schools receiving report cards by September 15 and public release by September 30.
Aligned’s Take: We testified in support of both bills because transparency is a feature, not a punishment, if the system is designed to be fair, stable, and focused on real improvement.
Tax credits clear committee unanimously — here’s what the numbers show
After last week’s hearing, HB 2409 advanced out of executive session on a unanimous 14–0 vote. The three-part child care tax credit package now moves forward with clear momentum.
The fiscal note brings the scale of the proposal into sharper focus.
At the center of the bill are three separate child care tax credits, each designed to encourage financial assistance in a variety of ways: donations to providers, employer-supported child care, and direct relief for providers tied to withholdings and capital investments.
Here’s the headline fiscal takeaway: once claims would begin flowing (tax year 2027 credits show up when returns are filed in 2028), the bill could reduce General Revenue by up to roughly $70 million per year. The fiscal note gets there by stacking three program caps ($20 million each) and then assuming the bill’s built-in increase is triggered.
That feature itself is noteworthy.
The bill sets a $20 million annual cap for each credit, but the bill allows an additional 15% if the full cap is authorized in a calendar year. In practice, that means the state could go from $60 million in credits across the package to as much as $69 million.
Importantly, that extra slice is reserved for activity in child care deserts. The intent is equity: if the program is popular enough to max out, the expansion is supposed to push more benefit toward communities with limited access. But it also creates a structure where high demand automatically expands the credit amounts (and the price tag).
One contextual detail buried in the fiscal analysis is telling: Missouri’s number of licensed family child care homes has declined significantly over the past several years. Additionally, an MU Extension study estimates the state’s economy loses more than $1 billion annually due to child care shortages, and roughly three-fourths of Missouri counties are considered child care deserts.
Last week, lawmakers framed the package as economic development strategy. The fiscal note confirms it is also a significant fiscal commitment. The next phase of debate will likely focus less on whether child care matters and more on whether this structure and price point strike is feasible given the current budget reality.
Priority bill update
Missouri’s Priority Bill Tracker has been updated to reflect the latest committee action and floor movement, including HB 2409 and the evolving A–F accountability proposals.
For a broader overview of legislative activity this week, including additional education and workforce updates, see the full Capitol Report here.
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