Dear Friends:

In an effort to keep you informed about the activities at your State Capitol and how those activities may impact your lives, I am offering a regular electronic newsletter. This column includes information about bills making their way through the legislative process, including legislation that directly affects the citizens of Kansas City. I welcome your feedback and encourage you to contact my office with any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you.

The state of our schools and our children's future remains one of my top priorities as a lawmaker. As a member of the Senate Education Committee, my colleagues and I have held hearings on several bills designed to tackle our state's student transfer and school accreditation issue. Before the Education Committee finished its work for the week, it gave its approval to a bill designed to address the serious situation in our state regarding school accreditation and student transfers. This lead education bill, although not perfect, is a result of eight measures sponsored by senators from both sides of the aisle that have been combined with a bill that now moves to the full Senate for debate.

Senate Bill 493 would require the State Board of Education to assign one of the following classification designations to school districts: unaccredited, provisionally accredited, accredited and accredited with distinction. In addition, the bill would allow individual school buildings to receive accreditation classification within a district separately from the district as a whole. Instead of taking away accreditation for an entire school district when it does not meet educational standards, which would affect thousands of students at once, this provision would allow our state to begin accrediting individual schools within each district. If an individual school loses its accreditation, then the impact on students, teachers and parents would be dramatically less.

Our current student transfer law allows students in unaccredited districts to transfer to another nearby accredited school while the old school is required to pay the cost of tuition and transportation for students to the new school. This monumental cost, which is bankrupting one unaccredited district in our state, is what part of this lead education bill is designed to address. Senate Bill 493 would only apply this payment requirement to K-8 school districts; students transferring from an unaccredited to accredited district may attend a school that offers their grade level. Each school district would have to adopt a policy to grant priority to the lowest achieving students from low-income families if it reaches its capacity for enrollment.

However, if students are unable to transfer to an accredited school within their district or residence, they may transfer to an accredited school in the same or adjoining county; the students' home district would be required to pay for their tuition. The legislation would allow each district to have the right to establish a policy for desirable class size and student-teacher ratios, and it would not be required to accept any transfer students that would violate its policy.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would be responsible for calculating a transient student ratio for each public school and district using the number of students enrolled in the district or school, number of students who withdraw from the district or school, and the number of student who are enrolled, withdrew, and later re-entered the district or school.

The lead education bill also lays out how student assessment scores and other performance data for students who have not been enrolled in a district-operated school for the previous full school term would be used when calculating the district's performance, which is included in the Missouri School Improvement Program.

The way parents are notified of unaccredited district status and home visits is also addressed in the bill, as well as hardship transportation assignments; school district improvement measures; reading, personalized learning plans and student retention; and the length of school days and hours of instruction.

At this point in time, only the schools located in our state's two major metropolis areas are affected by the state's current student transfer and school accreditation law. However, this is not an urban vs. rural issue; there are 11 provisionally accredited districts located throughout our state that could be impacted by our actions in the General Assembly this year. The way we teach students in the classrooms and evaluate the success of our children's education affects districts across our state. I look forward to the debate on this bill in the Senate and the discussion on how we can respond to the ever-changing needs of our students, while helping schools return to a status of accreditation so our children can once again focus on what matters most.

I urge citizens in the Kansas City area to attend an upcoming local public hearing regarding a natural gas rate case filed by Missouri Gas Energy, a division of Laclede Gas Company (MGE). The hearing will be held on Feb. 26, 2014, at 1 p.m. at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center Auditorium (3700 Blue Parkway).

Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) staff will be present to provide information and answer questions. Sworn statements will also follow the hearing.

On Sept. 16, 2013, MGE filed a natural gas rate case with the PSC seeking a general rate increase of approximately $23.4 million. MGE serves approximately 500,000 natural gas customers throughout our state.

This rate case has the potential of impacting hundreds of thousands of Missourians across our state. Citizens need to be informed of any potential increase in their natural gas rates, especially when families throughout Missouri budget every dollar on basic necessities.

Individuals wishing to attend and/or participate in the hearing should call the PSC hotline at 1-800-392-4211 or Relay Missouri at *711 before the hearing.

For more information regarding this upcoming hearing, please contact Mr. Kevin Kelly at the PSC: (573) 751-9300.

Funding secured in the Fiscal Year 2014 state operating budget by Sen. Shalonn “Kiki” Curls, D-Kansas City, paved the way for a disparity study for Missouri’s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Program to ensure that these businesses can compete fairly for state contracts.  As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Curls worked last session to include $700,000 in the state’s spending plan for this disparity study.

“These businesses should have an equal opportunity at securing state contracts for infrastructure projects, and a disparity student will help determine how to allocate these dollars by comparing the actual number of M/WBE in Missouri to the actual number of M/WBE that receive state government contracts,” said Sen. Curls.  “We’ll know if a disparity exists if it is found that these certain businesses are underutilized in our state’s contracting system.  The last time Missouri conducted a similar disparity study was in 1994; it was completed in 1998.”

The Office of Administration (OA) is holding a series of public meetings regarding this disparity study for the M/WBE program.  Stakeholders and business owners are encouraged to attend these public meetings to provide input from businesses, community organization and individuals regarding their experiences in doing business with the state of Missouri through its M/WBE program.  Those in attendance will also be able to disclose any barriers they have encountered when exploring state contracting opportunities.

“If this directly impacts your business and how you utilize the M/WBE program, it is important that you attend these meetings,” continued Sen. Curls.  “Your insight regarding our state and its contracting practices to help identify potential program improvements is extremely valuable to all those involved in this process.  In addition, your input increases collaboration to promote economic growth in our state.”

Individuals interested in attending one or more of these meetings or to find out more information regarding these upcoming events, please contact (855) 692-6529 [(855) MWB-ELAW] or email: Missouri_study@mwbelaw.com.