A law passed last year to add a measure for grade-level equivalency as part of Missouri’s standardized test reports may be scrapped as a casualty of the state’s budgetary woes.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requested $1 million to add grade-level equivalency to the Missouri Assessment Program, which would largely be a one-time expense. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s recommended budget excludes this item, one of $600 million in proposed cuts.
Without this money, the education department can’t afford to add grade-level equivalency in the coming year, the department’s Deputy Commissioner of Financial and Administrative Services Kyle Kruse told the Missouri House Budget Committee last week.
“The implementation of a fifth level giving grade-level equivalence is going to be a very useful tool in ascertaining if students are achieving and progressing as they should,” he said. “The lack of funding, at the very least, would delay the effort.”
Currently, the Missouri Assessment Program breaks scores into four categories: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. Education officials estimate that a score that meets but does not exceed grade-level standards is around the high end of “basic.”
Without a measure of grade-level performance, there is no way to discern what percentage of students are not meeting expectations. But concerned parents and policymakers, interpreting proficiency as grade-level performance, often cite the number of students scoring below basic and basic as falling behind.
State Rep. Brad Pollitt, a Republican from Sedalia and a former educator, sponsored the legislation to add grade-level equivalence to Missouri Assessment Program scores hoping to learn more about student achievement.
“To have a conversation, especially in the Capitol when it comes to accreditation and where our kids are scoring at, it helps if everybody can be on the same page with where our kids are at,” he told The Independent.
A small contingent of Republicans worried that Pollitt’s legislation was an attempt to “water down” school accountability. But he insists the intention is just the opposite.
What happens next
Kehoe’s recommendation to exclude funding for grade-level reporting does not mean the idea is dead. State lawmakers could restore the funding over the coming months, and key to their discussions is whether state law mandates the change.
If state law mandates that the education department define grade-level equivalence, the legislature should cover the cost, said state Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia. She asked education officials if they feel “legally bound with no money to spend on the project.”
The department’s budget request describes the implementation of new performance levels as “required” by state law. But asked directly last week by members of the budget committee, education officials were judicious in their responses.
Lisa Sireno, assistant commissioner of quality schools, didn’t indicate whether she thought the change was mandated.
“At the very minimum, not having access to funding to support this work is going to delay the work,” said Lisa Sireno, assistant commissioner of quality schools, largely mirroring Kruse’s earlier comment.
When asked whether the department believed the change was required and whether it could carry out the work without the requested funding, a spokesman told The Independent that the department “will work to fulfill its obligations under the law within the appropriations authorized by the legislature.”
Gabby Picard, spokeswoman for the governor, said in an email that Kehoe doesn’t believe it was an unfunded mandate.
The state’s fiscal analysis of the law, which included an array of education provisions, estimated a cost of just over $1 million. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in its proposed budget, said their funding request was based on the fiscal note.
Many of the other provisions in the bill included disclaimers that they are “subject to appropriation,” a common phrase to make programs optional under budgetary constraints. But the section on grade-level equivalence doesn’t include this disclaimer, nor does it set a deadline for implementation.
Pollitt couldn’t give a legal opinion on whether the legislation was a mandate, but he envisions some leniency.
“If the governor didn’t provide the funds, then my expectation would be that they don’t have to do it until the funds become available,” he said.
Pollitt intends to continue advocating for the reporting of grade-level equivalence if the state is unable to enact it this year, acknowledging the state is in a “tough spot” financially.
“I think that’s something for us to look at in the future, if we ever can do that,” he said. “Because I just want to have conversations that are meaningful and can be understood by everybody.”
Accountability
Pollitt is not alone in a pursuit of transparency and accountability for public schools. Kehoe, in his State of the State speech, unveiled his plan to give parents a clearer picture of school performance.
In an executive order released last month, he is pushing for the State Board of Education to grade public schools on an A-F scale “grounded primarily in academic performance and growth.”
State Rep. Kemp Strickler, a Democrat from Lee’s Summit, pointed to the executive order during budget discussions. He was “surprised to see (grade-level equivalency) zeroed out.”
“Would this be helpful for ranking schools from ‘A’ to ‘F’?” he asked.
Kruse said grade-level “seems like it would be an important component” to implementing Kehoe’s vision for an A-F grade scale for schools.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe walks into a meeting of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force alongside Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger Sept. 9, 2025. Kehoe created the task force in an executive order last year (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).The governor’s proposal, though, emphasizes proficiency with a call to create a “growth to proficiency” metric to track “whether a student is on a trajectory to reach grade-level proficiency within three years.”
When asked whether he intends to track grade-level performance or proficiency, Kehoe’s office said in a statement that both are “important measures to track student achievement.”
“The governor is prioritizing transparency through calling for a growth to proficiency,” Picard wrote.
In a House Education Committee hearing of a bill largely mirroring Kehoe’s proposal, educators warned that the proposal would largely benefit school districts in wealthier areas and lack key context that helps parents assess whether a school would be a good fit.
The state’s fiscal analysis of the bill estimates that creating the A-F scoring system would cost around $2.3 million. Kehoe wouldn’t say if he is willing to spend over $2 million on his idea.
“The governor is willing to work with the associated agencies to identify an appropriate level of funding for these measures,” Picard wrote. “While remaining mindful of the current budget constraints and maintaining fiscal responsibility.”
