Missouri school board urged staff and parents to lobby against charter expansion

Columbia Public Schools (CPS), the fourth largest school district in Missouri, has been sending emails to parents, teachers, and staff urging them to take political action to oppose charter schools after Boone County was added to the list of districts eligible for charter schools.

SB 727 added all school districts located in Boone County to the list of school districts in which a charter school may be operated. CPS sued the state on Dec. 15, 2025, over the charter school expansion, arguing it is unconstitutional.

In an April 3, 2024, email to CPS staff, the district’s chief communications officer sent an email on behalf of the school board president warning that the potential bill, which was being considered at the time, “has the potential to change public school as we know it and do great harm to CPS. I am asking for your help in voicing opposition to this bill. Of particular concern is the expansion of charter schools.”

The email argues against charter schools, claiming they will lead to tax increases, less revenue, layoffs, loss of state and local funding, and that charters “pick and choose which students they take.” It continues: “We oppose the diversion of public money to a duplicate education system that has not proven to produce any better outcomes for students and, in fact, has failed in many cases.”

The message encourages district employees to contact state legislators: “If you share these concerns, your help is needed to contact legislators TODAY and share your views” opposing charter expansion. It also encourages educators to email key legislators from a list provided at the bottom of the email, saying they are “key in deciding how the House vote will go.”

“You may identify yourself as a district employee, but please indicate that you are sharing your personal views and, in accordance with policy GBCB, this should be done on your own time,” the email stated.

Again, the district’s chief communications officer sent an email on behalf of the district’s board of education on Dec. 15, 2025, announcing a lawsuit against the State of Missouri, the Attorney General, and the State Board of Education, claiming that allowing charters in Boone County is unconstitutional.

The email explained that Frontier KC has applied to open a charter school in Columbia and Saint Louis University, the school’s sponsor, has approved it. The application now awaits approval by the State Board of Education.

“Our chief objection to charter schools in Columbia has always been that they divert funding away from Columbia Public Schools to pay for a duplicate school system that is privately run and not accountable to our community,” the email read.

“This is not about parental choice, as charter proponents would have you believe,” the email continued. “Parents have always had the option to send their children to a private or parochial school, and there are scholarships available to families in need. Public education exists to serve all children, and charters simply do not. They have many ways to be selective in their enrollment. In addition to requiring parents to volunteer, charter schools can adopt selective enrollment boundaries and set attendance requirements. Charters choose the children they want to serve and use state and local taxpayer money that would otherwise come to CPS to pay for it.”

The Board of Education then sent a similar email to all parents on Dec. 15, 2025, announcing the lawsuit and explaining that Boone County “was targeted by the legislature for charter school expansion in 2024.”

“Our biggest concern about charters has always been how they are funded. They take public taxes -including local dollars – directly from the existing public school district. Meanwhile, charters are not accountable to local taxpayers,” the email read.

“This is not an argument against parent choice. Parents can choose now to send their children to a private or parochial school, and there are scholarships for families in need. Public education exists to serve all children and charters simply do not,” the email added. “They have many ways to be selective in their enrollment. In addition to requiring parents to volunteer, charter schools can adopt selective enrollment boundaries and set attendance requirements. Charters choose the children they want to serve and use state and local taxpayer money that would otherwise come to CPS to pay for it.”

Notably, Missouri has two laws on the books, RSMo § 36.155, which allows state employees to participate in politics but bars them from using official authority to influence elections, soliciting political contributions from subordinates, running for partisan office (with limited exceptions), or pressuring people with matters pending before their agency and RSMo § 36.159, which prohibits intimidating, threatening, commanding, or coercing a state employee to engage in political activity (or retaliating based on political beliefs), and makes violations a criminal election offense that can also cost the violator their job.