More families are taking advantage of vouchers that can be used to pay for private school tuition and other costs, after the Missouri legislature expanded availability. But public school leaders say fewer students doesn't equate to fewer costs for them.
Saint Louis University’s PRiME Center was commissioned by the state to report on the MOScholars program and recently released the findings.
After the state legislature lifted eligibility restrictions on students living in areas with fewer than 30,000 residents in 2024, towns and rural areas saw a dramatic increase in participation — a 7,800% increase by the 2026-27 school year.
However, money received by local public school districts from the state is partially based on student enrollment. If that falls, so do funds allocated from the state.
Only 26 students in Kirksville are participating in MOScholars this school year, but that's more than five times as many as last year.
Kirksville R-III School District Superintendent Tricia Reger said MOScholars isn’t causing major funding issues now, but the district is pressured from two sides: it might be able to cut some expenditures if enough students use the vouchers, but fewer students means a cut in state funding, which is dependent on enrollment.
“We still are going to have the same number of bus routes. We’re still going to have the same number of teachers,” Reger said. “If the number were, you know, 260 students, then that looks a little bit different.”
Last year, the Kirksville R-III District had about 2,300 students enrolled. For the 2026-27 school year, Reger said overall enrollment was up.
But, if more families choose MOScholars down the road, Reger said the district will then have to cut staff. The PRiME Center’s report projects a 150% increase in voucher program participation in less populated areas for the 2026-27 school year.
“We absolutely respect any family’s decision, and they have to choose what is right for their family,” Reger said. “The reality is that it does have an impact on the local schools' funds.”
Additionally, Reger said there is a discrepancy in state accountability measures between private and public school performance.
“When we get public school funding, we’re held to some pretty strict standards and criteria,” Reger said. “When it comes to MOScholar dollars and some of the other entities that are on the receiving end of those dollars, that accountability isn’t there.”
The PRiME Center’s report found participating students’ average test scores surpassed average scores in Missouri public schools. But it also found that only 77% of participating students at testing grade levels had valid scores reported.
PRiME Center Executive Director Colin Hitt said the results still provide a baseline to measure future progress.
“As an education policy researcher of 20 years, if you were going to hand me a data set, tell me that 40% of the students in the data had individualized education plans — they were special needs students — and the rest were from households of limited means, I would not have guessed that we would have seen test scores as high as what we’re seeing here,” Hitt said.
Hitt said no agency in Missouri’s history has ever successfully such data from hundreds of private schools.
“The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not collect even enrollment data from private schools, let alone academic outcome data,” Hitt said.
From the private school voucher program’s first year up to the 2024-25 school year, the number of valid test scores increased over time. PRiME’s report projects that the number of students in MOScholars with test scores will more than double during this school year.
The report for the 2025-26 school year is currently underway, which Hitt said will reflect some of the improvements in the state's data collection from previous years.
