Tags
54th Legislative District, Brandon Phelps, General Assembly, missouri, Public Education, right wingnut, vouchers
Brandon Phelps (r) [2025 file photo].
From the Missouri State Treasurer:
Under the guidelines established by the Missouri General Assembly in 2021, MOScholars tax credits may be awarded to individuals and businesses that file a Missouri income tax return and make an eligible contribution to a certified educational assistance organization (EAO). These private contributions for tax credits fund scholarship accounts for students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and students living in low-income households.
A MOScholars tax credit is equal to 100% of an eligible donation, not to exceed 50% of the donor’s state tax liability for the tax year the credit is claimed. MOScholars tax credits may be carried forward for four (4) subsequent tax years. The tax credit is not sellable, transferrable, or refundable.
[….]
About your tax dollars:
Two-day trial reveals inner workings of Missouri private school voucher program
Less than 2% of MOScholars students are funded through donations this school year. The rest depend on general revenue from the state budget
By: Annelise Hanshaw
November 26, 2025More than 98% of scholarships administered by the MOScholars program this school year are funded by Missouri taxpayers. And though there are strict eligibility requirements for private-school scholarships, eligibility isn’t checked after the initial scholarship is awarded or for siblings of students who received a scholarship.
The revelations about the inner workings of Missouri’s private school voucher program came to light over the course of a two-day trial in Cole County Circuit Court this week.
[….]
When state lawmakers created the program in a 2021 bill, they set it up to run on donations that are eligible for a 100% tax credit up to half of a donor’s tax liability. In the first three years of the program, donations totaled $33.8 million.
Gov. Mike Kehoe announced in January that he intended to bring a major infusion of funding to the program through a $50 million appropriation of general revenue. This windfall for MOScholars has allowed the state to nearly triple the amount of scholarships awarded this fall.
“If not for general revenue, would many of (the new) scholars be able to receive a scholarship?” Assistant Attorney General Peter Donahue asked the treasurer’s director of programs, Trent Blair.
“No,” Blair answered.
[….]
Of 6,418 scholarships awarded this school year, only 111 are funded through tax credits. That includes the 2,405 students who were in the program last year. So if MOScholars did not receive the state appropriation, the funding would cover less than 5% of the renewal students going into the school year.
[….]
The treasurer’s office uses an education management system called FACTS to review applications and determine eligibility. Haggard asked if the software checks if renewal students still meet eligibility requirements.
It doesn’t, Blair said.
“So a student can receive a scholarship even though they don’t meet the IEP or income requirements?” Haggard then asked.
“Yes,” Blair said.
When a student is eligible one year, the system presumes that they retain eligibility. The siblings of renewal students are also deemed eligible.
[….]
And Brandon Phelps?:
“…Supported and passed legislation to expand MO Scholars giving low income families more options in education…”
“…Of 6,418 scholarships awarded this school year, only 111 are funded through tax credits….”
Our tax dollars at work, for private educational interests.
Previously:
Hey Brandon Phelps (r), we hear you’re afraid of church ladies (September 18, 2025)