By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek visited St. Joseph Christian School this morning, promoting the recently created MOScholars program.
The program provides scholarships of up to $6,500 for a school-age student to attend a private school. It depends on donations. It currently is capped at $25 million.
Malek says MOScholars has grown quickly since the legislature created it in 2021.
“So, the first year we received about $9 million in donations toward the program,” Malek tells reporters after the assembly at St. Joseph Christian. “This year, we received $17 million.”
Legislation in Jefferson City this session would raise the program’s cap to $75 million and lift its geographic restrictions. At present, the scholarships are only available for Missouri families living in the state’s four largest counties or in cities of at least 30,000. MOScholars scholarships are available to families earning below 200% of the federal poverty level or for students with an individualized education plan.
Malek says because of how MOScholars is constructed, it doesn’t undermine public school funding.
“Even if it gets to $75 million that’s just peanuts compared to what DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) gets,” Malek says. “Second, I would say, the public schools are not losing any money because of this. If a kid decides to leave a public school system and go to a private school like St. Joe here, the funding, as per the statute, will not be diminished from the state or the fed.”
St. Joseph Christian has 59 students receiving money through MOScholars.
Malek says the program is specifically designed to not undermine public education.
“Per capita, the school will actually be richer, even if a kid leaves that school and goes to a private school,” according to Malek. “So, in no way, is it taking away money from the public school system. I think it’s a win-win for everybody and it just gives parents a different choice.”
A MOScholars scholarship can be used to attend a Christian school, a parochial school, a charter school, or to receive therapeutic services.
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