Signed by Governor Jay Nixon

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that modifies the current Missouri Education Laws by including a program that allows students to work for credit, a student mentoring program, new requirements for charter schools, drop-out prevention funding and a parent and volunteer incentive program, as well as establishing teaching and physical education standards that are to be applied throughout the state.

Highlights:

-Establishes the School Flex Program, which allows High School Juniors and Seniors to earn school credit through working part-time in a skilled occupation (Secs. 160, 167, 171). -Prohibits any school disciplinary policy that confines an unattended student in a locked space, except while awaiting the arrival of the police (Sec. 160). -Establishes the Missouri Senior Cadets Program to provide opportunities for High School Seniors in public school to mentor kindergarten through eighth grade students (Sec. 160). -Requires a charter school sponsor to revoke a charter or take other remedial action, including placing the charter school on suspension, if it commits certain acts such as failing to meet academic or fiscal management standards (Sec. 160). -Appropriates funds from Proposition A to the Classroom Trust Fund, beginning on July 1, 2010 (Secs. 160, 163, 313). -Allows the Governor to establish the P-20 Council as a private not-for-profit corporation to create a more efficient and effective education system to more adequately prepare students for entering the workforce (Sec. 160). -Creates the Persistence to Graduation Fund for use by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for grants to implement dropout prevention strategies (Sec. 160). -Requires public schools to develop teaching standards by June 30, 2010, which must include student participation, use of various forms of assessment, communication skills, instructional knowledge, and professional behavior (Sec. 161). -Establishes the Volunteer and Parents Incentive Program to reimburse parents or volunteers who donate time at schools in which fifty percent of students are defined as "at risk" (Sec. 161). -Establishes the Missouri Preschool Plus Grant Program as a pilot program within the Missouri Preschool Project, serving up to 1,250 students (Sec. 162). -Raises the age at which a student may cease attending high school without participating in the School Flex Program to 17 (Sec. 167). -Exempts home-schooled students from compulsory participation in the School Flex Program (Sec. 167). -Establishes physical education standards for elementary schools as of the 2010-2011 school year that include moderate physical activity for an average of 30 minutes per day (Sec. 167).

Full Bill Text