Jill Carter
Missouri education package establishes long-time priorities, stomping smaller bills
During Missouri’s 2024 legislative session, 338 bills addressing education were filed: a mix of proposals to change curriculum, increase funding, boost oversight and others. The House appeared poised to expedite more K-12 legislation by forming a Special Committee on Education Reform in addition to its usual Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. Chair of the existing […]
Missouri bill protecting rural neighbors from meatpacking sludge clears legislature
Meatpacking sludge storage lagoons that have drawn the ire of rural neighbors because of their foul stench would face stricter state regulations under legislation that cleared a final vote in the Missouri House Thursday. The Missouri House voted 155-1 to require the facilities to obtain water pollution permits, be set back from nearby homes, follow […]
Friday budget deadline tests Republican factional fractures in Missouri Senate
The end of a 41-hour filibuster early Thursday was a cease-fire in the Missouri Senate’s Republican civil war, not a peace settlement. But the only place it applies is in the chamber itself. Outside, on social media and conservative talk radio, the barrage continues. The Missouri Freedom Caucus surrendered the floor under threat of being […]
Missouri Republican lawmakers debate caucus versus primary
Republican state Sen. Jill Carter of Granby spoke in favor of her bill Monday that would return Missouri Republican voters to a system of presidential primaries rather than the caucuses held earlier this month. The bill would reinstate the presidential preference primary election to take place on the first Tuesday of March. Carter told the […]
Missouri lawmakers seek to reenvision school accountability and accreditation
Missouri lawmakers are considering a handful of bills in both the House and Senate that would change the way the state measures school performance and accreditation. The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee debated two bills Wednesday seeking to scrap systems developed by the state’s education department to assess schools. A Senate committee held a […]
Missouri Republicans push for ‘constitutional sheriffs’ amendment to go to voters
A Senate committee heard proposed legislation Wednesday that would enshrine the role of county sheriff’s departments into the state constitution. The resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 42, was introduced to the Senate Committee on General Laws by Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby. If enacted into law, it would make it impossible for a sheriff’s department to be shut […]
Missouri homeschool families seek access to public school activities, teams
Homeschooled students came to Missouri’s Capitol last week in hopes they could convince lawmakers to allow them to participate in their local school district’s extracurricular activities. A pair of bills were debated by the Senate education and workforce development committee aimed at expanding access to activities like sports and clubs to students who are homeschooled. […]
Impact of declining scores unclear as Missouri lawmakers continue education debate
As the Missouri House debated legislation last week to allow students to transfer out of their home district, rumors about the state’s declining school performance data lingered. When the numbers became public later in the day, lawmakers were quick to voice their opinions. Missouri students scored worse across the board from pre-pandemic levels, and 112 […]
Missouri Senate leaves town early as GOP disagrees on transgender-care bill
The Missouri Senate’s spring break came a day early this year after Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin adjourned the chamber following two days of a Democrat-led filibuster of a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. As some departed for a now-extended break, strategizing continued in senators’ offices into the evening over the bill. Sponsored by Sen. […]
Missouri Senate conservatives stray from party on sweeping education bill
The Missouri Senate passed a sweeping education bill to the House on Tuesday that would create transparency requirements for school districts and ban them from teaching some diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum. The bill also seeks to add a patriotism course for teachers, open transportation funding to intradistrict transfer programs and increase funding for districts […]
Lawmaker proposes local control plan to opt Missouri districts out of state standards
A Republican legislator wants to find a way for some Missouri school districts to opt out the state’s accreditation program. State Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby, pitched her bill to the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee on Tuesday as a way for districts to “get out from the heavy hand of the department of education.” […]
Conservative caucus likely expands in Missouri Senate after GOP primary wins
Candidates expected to align with the conservative caucus in the Missouri Senate had a good night on Tuesday, winning primaries in three open seats and knocking off one incumbent. The victories likely mean the caucus — which has quarreled with GOP leadership and used procedural roadblocks to grind the chamber to a halt for the […]