Independence Board of Education 2026 Legislative Session Legislative Priority Positions
In the interest of public education in the Independence School District, we ask members of the Missouri General Assembly to:
- Support local school districts' authority to evaluate a four-day school week, prepare their school calendar, and establish the beginning of the school year that is in the best interest of students, staff, and community.
- Support legislation stipulating the enactment of accurate and timely property tax assessment practices and the clarification of assessment terms and timelines to promote uniformity and fairness of property tax assessments. Support uniformity in taxation as outlined in Article 10, Section 3 of the Missouri Constitution.
- Support the full funding of state mandates in accordance with the Missouri Constitution by fully funding the Foundation Formula, Transportation Formula, Early Childhood Education, and summer school.
- Support increasing overall state funding, per pupil, in an effort to make Missouri rank in the top one-half of all states in the country in support of K-12 public education.
- Support local school district's authority to make decisions about matters such as: open enrollment; employee compensation and working conditions; class sizes; educational placement, curriculum, and instructional materials; professional development; program and employee evaluation; and Board member election terms and dates.
- Support a line-item appropriation of state funding for safety measures for local school districts to protect students from harm and/or violence.
- Support a consistent set of standards and tools to measure the progress of students and meet their educational needs while allowing districts to respond and implement these changes without further disruption to state standards or tests.
- Strengthen laws that control tax abatement programs (TIF, CH-100, CH-353, et. al.).
- Support funding for Early Childhood expansion.
- Ensure all local tax funds be under the control of a publicly elected board, revenue not be diverted to non-public educational entities, and Charter schools not be expanded.