Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program – All you need to Know

The Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program is a tax-credit education savings account (ESA) that allows qualifying parents to receive assistance for tuition, tutoring, educational treatments, individual classes, and extracurricular programming. Individuals and businesses can earn tax credits for donations to EAOs. This page explains the program’s eligibility, funding, and requirements.

3. EdChoice Professional Opinion and Guidance

The Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program is the second ESA in the country to be funded by tax credits, and it has the potential to assist thousands of students in Missouri in obtaining the educational services that are most suited to their individual need. Nonetheless, decision-makers in government should do more to broaden access to educational opportunities.

Students with special needs or those from families earning up to 200 percent of the federal free-and-reduced-price lunch program (the equivalent of 370 percent of the federal poverty line) are the only ones who are eligible for the ESAs. Additionally, eligibility is restricted to only those students who currently reside in counties with a charter form of government or cities with at least 30,000 inhabitants. Because of this limitation, the potential expansion of educational alternatives in Missouri’s more rural locations is hampered.

There is a maximum value of approximately $6,375 attached to each ESA. That’s not even close to being half of what the typical expenditure is on each pupil in Missouri’s public schools. In addition, the scheme only offers a maximum of $25 million in tax credits for the contributions made to the organizations that offer educational support. The program will only be able to serve a maximum of approximately 3,900 children, which is less than one percent of the total number of K–12 pupils in the state of Missouri.

In order to broaden children’ access to a variety of educational options, authorities in Missouri should raise ESA allotments to a level that is equal to the per-pupil expenditure at district schools and broaden eligibility requirements to include all students. After the year 2026, the tax deductions that can be taken for charitable contributions to ESAs will no longer be available. The ESA policy in Missouri ought to be extended for the long term as soon as possible by the state legislature.

In general, Missouri’s ESA program steers clear of rules that are unproductive. Nonprofit educational assistance groups are in charge of the program’s administration, and they are required to provide ESA families with an opportunity to have their voices heard in order to guarantee that the program is managed efficiently.

4. Rules and Regulations

• Limit on income is equal to 200 percent of the income criterion for the federal reduced price lunch program ($98,050 for a household of four in 2021-22) (students who do not have special needs)
• Prior Year’s Students from Public Schools Requirement: Yes, with a few notable exceptions
  Charter government counties and cities with more than 30,000 persons constitute the geographic limit.
• Enrollment Cap: None
• Maximum Allowable Deposit for an Account: $6,375
• Mandatory Examinations Choose Between State Tests and Nationally Norm-Referenced Exams
  Credit Amount: One Hundred Percent of Donations Credit Limit: Fifty Percent of Taxpayer Obligation
• The overall limit of tax credits is set at $25 million (with an increase of up to $50 million per year to account for inflation).

EAO Requirements:

• Taxpayers should be given a receipt that has been approved by the state treasurer for any contributions they make to the organization.
• IEP status should take precedence when allocating awards.
• Students whose families have an annual income that does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level (approximately $95,050 for a family of four in 2021-22)
• Every single other kid who is competent
• Ensure that all of the money earned from interest and dividends goes toward funding scholarships.
• Spend no more than 10 percent of total earnings on expenses that are not related to scholarships.
• Upon the desire of a parent, scholarship account payments should be disbursed on a quarterly basis or in a lump sum at the beginning of the school year. Conduct criminal background checks on all workers and board members. Ensure that annual audits are performed by a certified public accountant.
• Send the state treasurer a summary of the student population’s demographics.
  Conduct and report on a yearly survey to gauge the level of parental satisfaction.
• In any given year, the number of EAOs that can be certified to administer scholarship accounts is limited to no more than ten.

Parent Requirements

• Parent must sign an agreement that:
• The qualified student shall enroll in a qualified school and receive an education in at least the subjects of English language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science;
• Except for a qualified student who is in the custody of the state, the qualified student shall not be enrolled in a public school operated by, or a charter school located within, the qualified student’s district of residence, and shall release the district of custody of the qualified student. Parent must sign an agreement that:
• The qualified student shall enroll in
  Only costs that meet certain criteria can be paid for using the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship funds, which are deposited into an account for each qualified student.

Statutes That Are Governing

Legal Background of Missouri Revised Statutes 135.712–14, 135.716, and 135.719, as well as 166.700, 166.705, 166.710, and 166.15, and 166.720

This initiative has not been the subject of any legal challenges as of yet.

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