Even before he became governor, Jay Nixon drew a hard line in the sand: If the Missouri General Assembly passed any bill that Nixon felt transferred public dollars to private schools, he would veto that legislation. He followed through on that promise in 2014,
Whether that 鈥渓ine鈥� remains, however, depends on who replaces Nixon in the governor鈥檚 office.
The Democratic and Republican hopefuls for governor have different views about During a campaign stop in St. Louis on Saturday, Koster told 漏 2024 外网天堂 that he would take a similar philosophical view as Nixon.
鈥淔or us to track public money the way we need to, it has to go to places where there is transparency, accountability and oversight,鈥� said Koster, Missouri鈥檚 attorney general. 鈥淧ublic government has the responsibility of making sure the recipients of public money meet a certain standard. And so, one of the problems with vouchers is that we lose track of the public money. We can鈥檛 ensure that type of accountability, oversight and transparency. There鈥檚
Koster鈥檚 statement about 鈥渟chool choice鈥� is likely to prompt a sigh of relief from many Democrats. Many Missouri Democrats made opposition to vouchers, tuition tax credits, or private school transfers a cornerstone of the party鈥檚 messaging. Had Koster taken the opposite view, it鈥檚 not inconceivable (though not an automatic certainty) that or other voucher-like programs could have had a better pathway to implementation.
Asked whether he would have signed the 2014 school transfer bill into law, Koster said he would have to look over the legislation鈥檚 components. He added, though, 鈥渁s a philosophical matter, vouchers to private schools are outside of the educational parameters that I would advocate for.鈥�
Koster said where he does "favor and promote choice is in the charter school arena.鈥� He contended that charter schools are 鈥渓ifting up鈥� the St. Louis School District and 鈥渢ransforming鈥� the Kansas City School District.
鈥淎nd so parents are doing what parents do. They are making decisions that they feel are in the best interest of their children,鈥� Koster said. 鈥淲hen you have an urban school district like Kansas City that has become a majority charter school district now, we are seeing for the first time in a long, long time parents migrating toward an urban area because of education 鈥� and not migrating away from it.
鈥淭his type of school choice, which I would want to promote as governor across the state, is lifting education up,鈥� he added.
Greitens鈥� 'line in the sand'
Nixon made that commitment to veto 鈥渧oucher鈥� bills when during his first run for governor. He told attendees at a smoky central Missouri country club:
After hearing that Nixon clip GOP gubernatorial nominee Eric Greitens replied: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 so terrible about that answer that you heard is he didn鈥檛 talk at all about kids.鈥�
鈥淢y line in the sand is that we鈥檙e going to do whatever is right for kids. And we鈥檙e actually going to look at results,鈥� Greitens said. 鈥淎nd what matters at the end of the day is if our kids can read, if our kids can do math, if our kids can spell. We owe those kids a fair shot at the American Dream. And I think it鈥檚 terrible for any politician to take something off of the table for political reasons that might actually help our kids. If it鈥檚 going to work for our kids, then you need to give it a shot.鈥�
Greitens then cited his experience working in places like Bolivia and India where religious organizations helped lower-income children. When asked if he would have signed the 2014 school transfer bill, Greitens replied: 鈥淚 will consider anything where there is quality evidence to show me that this is going to change the lives of our kids.
鈥淚f it works for kids, I鈥檓 going to be behind it,鈥� he said.
Greitens reiterated this stance There, he said it鈥檚 鈥渁bsolutely essential that we do everything we can to make sure kids in Missouri have a shot at a quality education.鈥�
鈥淢y life changed because I got a quality education. That enabled every opportunity that came my way. And the fact is, there are lots of kids and parents in the state of Missouri who simply aren鈥檛 getting a shot at a quality education,鈥� Greitens said. 鈥淪o what we need to do is expand every opportunity that we can to make sure that there are more choices for those kids who are in failing schools. More choices for kids who have special needs.鈥�
Rare concurrence?
Koster and Greitens are probably going to diverge on lots and lots of issues as the contentious campaign for governor goes forward. But one area of agreement is a proposed tobacco tax hike.
The money would
Whether the constitutional amendment gets a vote during the November election is up in the air. While Secretary of State Jason Kander is expected to announce whether the initiative has enough signatures in the coming days, the initiative is facing several potentially derailing lawsuits.
Even if it makes the ballot, Greitens and Koster are among opponents. Greitens came out against the proposal
鈥淧oliticians always want to solve problems just by spending more money,鈥� Greitens said. 鈥淲e need to spend money on things that work.鈥�
Koster said on Saturday while he鈥檚 鈥渧ery much in favor of the spirit of the proposal,鈥� he鈥檚 鈥渘ot in favor of it in the concrete fashion that it has been put forward.鈥� He ,
鈥淚'm not alone in this assessment, unfortunately,鈥� Koster said. 鈥淭he These are highly thought of organizations. And it pains everybody to make these observations, but that is the situation."
On the Trail, a weekly column, weaves together some of the intriguing threads from the world of Missouri politics.
