Midwest
Missouri Senate passes sweeping education bill
Students across Missouri could have access to scholarships for private schooling through an expanded tax credit program passed Thursday in the GOP-led state Senate.
Senators voted 19-10 to pass the sweeping education bill, an approval earned after weeks of bipartisan negotiation. The measure now heads to the Republican-led House for approval.
The legislation represents a win for advocates of greater access to non-traditional K-12 education, such as private, religious, charter and virtual schooling. Part of the proposal would allow charter schools to open in Boone County, for example.
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“We were focusing on providing choices beyond just public school,” Republican bill sponsor Sen. Andrew Koenig said.
But the measure also includes concessions for ardent public school supporters opposed to using public funding to support charters and private schools.
Compromises included in the bill include hundreds of millions of dollars in added funding for K-12 public schools and more money for districts that keep a five-day school week.
“Senate Democrats have always held the position that we’re going to oppose privatization of education through the siphoning-off of taxpayer funding,” Democratic Sen. Lauren Arthur said. “So, yes, we strongly oppose vouchers and the expansion of charters. I will say there was a lot in the bill that made it very tempting to vote for.”
Lawmakers debate on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)
The heart of the legislation is the expansion of Missouri Empowerment Scholarships Accounts, a voucher-like program that offers education grants to low-income families. The scholarships are funded by private donors, who in turn receive tax credits.
The current program limits recipients to residents of the state’s largest cities and to families who make 200% of the federal poverty level, which is $62,400 a year for a family of four.
Supporters want to offer the scholarships statewide to families that make as much as 300% of the federal poverty level, or $93,600 for a family of four.
The legislation would increase the cap on tax credits from $50 million to $75 million per year.
Unrelated, the proposal would require a local vote for large-city school districts to go to four-day weeks.
In total, Republican and Democratic Senate leaders estimated the bill would cost the state between $400 million and $450 million a year once fully implemented.
In Missouri, the issue of so-called school choice has divided lawmakers beyond typical Republican-Democrat lines.
GOP legislators from rural Missouri have pushed back for years against allowing charter schools in their areas for fear that the institutions could draw students away from traditional public schools and undermine what’s seen as the backbone of their communities. And some Democrats want more options for students in cities with underperforming schools.
Lawmakers have until mid-May to send bills to Gov. Mike Parson.
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North Dakota
NCAA Set to Change Unpopular Football Rule Just in Time for North Dakota State’s FBS Jump
North Dakota State playing in the FCS playoffs and College Football Playoff in back-to-back years? It’s likelier than you think.
That’s because on Wednesday, according to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA Division I cabinet voted to repeal a rule that effectively barred teams transitioning from FCS to FBS from playing in postseason games in their first FBS seasons. The Bison are making that move along with Sacramento State in 2026.
The reported change has been a long time coming; the rule has hampered teams from immediate bowl eligibility for decades. Its good intentions of dissuading teams from rashly making the FCS-to-FBS leap have been rendered obsolete in recent years by the fact that programs generally arrive in FBS more prepared than ever before.
Consider the number of new FBS teams that have had to work within the provision in the past decade alone
That list includes: Liberty (home for the holidays at 6–6 in 2018), James Madison (8–3 in 2022 under coach Curt Cignetti, and barely able to play in a bowl at 11–1 in ’23 due to a lack of bowl-eligible teams), Jacksonville State (8–4 in ’23 before backing in like the Dukes), Missouri State (7–5 in 2025, also backed in) and Delaware (6–6 in ’25, ditto).
James Madison in particular became a cause célèbre in ’23 because it started the season 10-0, climbing as high as No. 18 in the AP Poll in mid-November. Then-Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares bandied about suing the NCAA before the Dukes lost 26–23 to Appalachian State, an event that caused the program to back off and accept a bid to play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. James Madison lost that game 31–21, by which time Cignetti had left for Indiana.
There was a time when the FCS-to-FBS jump was an imposing one, and the NCAA did not want to incentivize making it lightly—not even a proud Florida A&M program could make a mid-2000s attempt at a jump stick. However, the Flames, Dukes and other teams have shown it’s not so great a climb for programs with the right resources and management.
Now the Bison and the Hornets stand to benefit.
How far can North Dakota State and Sacramento State go in the near term?
The Bison opened 12–0 last year before a shock loss to Illinois State in the FCS playoffs’ second round, so that question may answer itself. North Dakota State does not play a single Power 4 team—a potential strength-of-schedule albatross if it has designs on really surging. A potential roadblock: the fact that the Bison have to visit the Mountain West’s two favorites, UNLV (Oct. 10) and New Mexico (Oct. 24).
It’s a different story for the Hornets, a 7–5 squad a year ago whose move to the FBS is widely seen as a gamble on their growth potential. Sacramento State also does not play a major-conference team, but has a breakneck travel schedule ahead of it—the Hornets will visit Ypsilanti, Mich.; Bowling Green, Ohio; Muncie, Ind.; Mount Pleasant, Mich. and Honolulu. Combine that with a first-year coach—Oakland native and ex-MC Hammer choreographer Alonzo Carter—and it could be a long FBS debut in California’s capital.
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