Missouri's GOP Gov. Mike Parson signs law expanding voucher

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — K-12 students from low-income families across Missouri soon will have access to private school scholarships under legislation signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Mike Parson.

The voucher-like scholarship program, which takes effect Aug. 28, will offer as much as $6,375 per child for expenses including tuition, textbooks, tutoring, transportation, extracurricular activities and summer school. Scholarship accounts are funded by private donors in exchange for tax credits.

The initiative also promises hundreds of millions of dollars more for public schools, a compromise made to help the bill pass the Legislature where so-called “school choice” policies have struggled to advance.

Teachers will be paid a minimum of $40,000 a year under the new law, with additional incentives for long-time teachers with master’s degrees.