Dec. 3—An event with local ties is set for next week, meant to promote a state program that allows families to get tax-credit-enabled scholarships for private school.
The Education Freedom Rally will take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the newly constructed Herzog Foundation headquarters, 105 NE 188th St. in Smithville.
The foundation, created after the 2019 death of St. Joseph business titan Stanley M. Herzog with funds he dedicated from his estate, has become a national advocate for institutions organized in the same vein as St. Joseph Christian School; religiously oriented, privately run campuses for preschool through grade 12 students.
The state program involved is MOScholars, wherein donors contribute at least $500 to a fund that pays out grants of up to $6,375 per year to qualified families to help cover private school tuition.
"The way I look at it is, it's not any different than Pell Grants or any other public resource that we are using for higher education," said State Rep. Josh Hurlbert, R-Smithville, who will speak at Tuesday's event. "Why can't we have that same model for K-12?"
Advocates of MOScholars are keen to point out that although the Herzog Foundation is one of its more prominent supporters, and the foundation focuses on Christian schools, the money can be used to pay for tuition at any private educator in Missouri, be it secular or religious in nature.
This is one component of the pro-school-choice message advocated by the Show Me Institute, which will also be present at the Tuesday event. It will be represented by speaker Patrick Ishmael, director of government accountability. Ishmael said he will promote a bigger-picture idea of school choice, beyond the scope of private vs. public education.
"School choice is really important, but informed school choice is about as important," he said. "And what I mean by that is, it's one thing to technically have options to send your kids to a different school to get a better education. But if you don't know important details about some of the public schools that you might send your child to, you may be lacking informed school choice ... If you don't know what's being taught, or how money is being spent, or how a school is doing, it's hard to make a good and informed choice, even if you have the choice."
The Show Me Institute, a think tank based in St. Louis, advances the idea that empowerment of the individual generates better results than empowerment of government, Ishmael said. The institute advocates, for example, for the removal of Missouri's requirement that, in most cases, students must attend the schools of the district in which their family resides. As it is right now, transfer to another district is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.