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Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe鈥檚 to grade public schools on an 鈥淎鈥� through 鈥淔鈥� scale is pushing House lawmakers to approve legislation some think isn鈥檛 quite ready.

With approval and dissent on both sides of the aisle, the House voted a to create a new school accountability system through to the Senate 96-53 Thursday despite concerns the letter grades could be a 鈥渟carlet letter鈥� for underperforming schools.

鈥淲ill this labeling system actually improve schools or will it mostly brand communities, destabilize staffing and incentivize gaming rather than learning?鈥� asked state Rep. Kem Smith, a Democrat from Florissant, during House debate Tuesday morning.

She said the key metrics that determine the grade, performance and growth, are volatile.

鈥淭he label itself can become a self-fulfilling prophecy,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he bill doubles down on high stakes metrics that are known to be unstable.鈥�

The bill鈥檚 sponsor, state Rep. Dane Diehl, a Republican from Butler, told lawmakers that a performance-based school report card with 鈥淎鈥� through 鈥淔鈥� grades is inevitable. The details, though, are negotiable.

鈥淭he governor鈥檚 executive order, it is going to happen either way,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think we tried to make that process a little better for school districts.鈥�

Kehoe鈥檚 order directs the state鈥檚 education department to draw up a plan for the report cards and present it to the State Board of Education. The board could reject the idea, but with a board with primarily new members appointed by Kehoe, lawmakers have accepted the system as fate.

State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly and chair of the House鈥檚 education committee, that he prioritized the bill as a way to give lawmakers influence over the final outcome. He is happy with the , which gives the education department more leeway to determine grade thresholds and removes a provision that would raise expectations once 65% of schools achieve 鈥淎鈥� or 鈥淏鈥� grades.

The House also approved an amendment Tuesday that would grade schools鈥� environment. This would be based on the rates of student suspension, seclusion and restraint incident rates and satisfaction surveys given to students, parents and teachers.

The Senate鈥檚 version, which passed out of its education committee last week, does not include those changes.

鈥淚 think (the House bill) is the best product we have in the Capitol right now,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淚 am not saying it鈥檚 complete, but it is the best we have right now.鈥�

The changes have softened some skeptics of the legislation, like state Rep. Brad Pollitt.

Pollitt, a Sedalia Republican, said he didn鈥檛 support the legislation 鈥渇or a number of years.鈥� But with the edits, he sees potential for the legislation to usher in changes to the way the state accredits public schools.

The current process, he said, 鈥渘obody seems to like,鈥� pointing to widespread concerns with the state鈥檚 standardized test.

Some of these changes are already happening quietly. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received a grant from the federal government to develop a state assessment based on through-year testing, which would measure student growth throughout the school year, instead of a single summative assessment.

The department is poised to pilot the new test in 14 classrooms this spring, hoping to eventually offer it statewide within a few years. But the estimated startup cost of $2 million is one of many department requests cut from the governor鈥檚 proposed budget as the .

Creating the 鈥淎鈥� through 鈥淔鈥� report cards is estimated to cost a similar amount, if not more, according to the state鈥檚 . The expense is largely frontloaded, going to the programming and technology support required to create the grade cards鈥� interface.

When The Independent asked Kehoe鈥檚 office about the fiscal note, the governor鈥檚 communications director Gabby Picard said he would work with 鈥渁ssociated agencies鈥� to determine appropriate funding 鈥渨hile remaining mindful of the current budget constraints and maintaining fiscal responsibility.鈥�

The House鈥檚 version of the legislation includes an incentive program for high-performing schools, giving bonuses to go toward teacher recruitment and retention, if the legislature appropriates funding for the program.

The bill originally proposed incentives of $50-100 per student to subsidize teacher pay. This had large fiscal implications, and Lewis surmised that it would violate a section of the State Constitution prohibiting bonuses for public employees.

Making the funding optional and directing it to the school鈥檚 teacher recruitment and retention fund remedied those concerns. The Senate Education Committee removed the incentive program in its version of the legislation.

The House鈥檚 approval Thursday does not stop discussion and possible amendments. Next, the bill will go to the Senate for consideration, and if any changes are made, it will return to the House for more discussion.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: [email protected].

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