September 16, 2026

Attention: 

Mike Kehoe, Governor of the State of Missouri

Members of the Missouri State Board of Education

Members of the Missouri Legislature

Dear Governor Kehoe and Members of the Missouri State Board of Education:

I am writing as a Missouri public school superintendent to express my deep concern and strong opposition to the Missouri State Board of Education's decision regarding the Fiscal Year 2028 budget request, specifically the decision to maintain the Foundation Formula request at the current year's funding level rather than submitting a request that reflects the amount calculated under Missouri's statutory school funding formula. This decision is deeply troubling to me—not simply because of the potential financial consequences for school districts, but because of what it communicates about the state's responsibility to Missouri's students, families, educators, and taxpayers.

Missouri has established a statutory Foundation Formula to determine the resources necessary to provide educational opportunities for students across the state. Section 163.031, RSMo, establishes the methodology through which state aid is calculated for qualifying school districts. The statute also expressly recognizes that the appropriation made by the General Assembly may be insufficient to fully fund the formula calculation and provides a mechanism for adjusting the State Adequacy Target when that occurs.

That distinction is critically important. The responsibility of the State Board should be to accurately identify and communicate what the state's own funding formula says is necessary. The responsibility of the Governor and General Assembly is to determine what Missouri can and will ultimately appropriate. Those are two different responsibilities.

If the statutory formula determines that additional resources are necessary to fund Missouri's public schools, the state's budget request should accurately reflect that determination. Whether the General Assembly ultimately appropriates the full amount is a separate question—one that should be debated openly and decided through the legislative process, giving constituents the opportunity to witness and contribute to the conversations as they occur. We should not reduce the request simply because we anticipate that legislators may not appropriate the full amount. Doing so changes the question before the General Assembly. Instead of asking lawmakers, "Will you fund what Missouri's own formula determines is necessary to educate our students?", the state is effectively asking, "How much of what we already provide are you willing to continue funding?" That is not the same conversation.

Missouri's Foundation Formula is not an arbitrary number created by individual school districts. It is a statutory framework established by the state to distribute education funding based on factors including student enrollment and needs. DESE itself describes the formula as the mechanism used to distribute state funds to eligible education agencies and as a needs-based approach intended to help provide sufficient resources for an adequate education. That makes the current decision particularly concerning.

School districts are being asked to do more for students while navigating increasing costs, staffing challenges, transportation expenses, technology needs, special education obligations, mental-health and behavioral-health needs, instructional requirements, and the many other responsibilities that come with educating children in 2026. At the same time, districts are expected to remain fiscally responsible and make difficult decisions with limited resources.

When the state establishes a funding formula to identify the resources necessary for public education, school districts should be able to trust that the formula represents a meaningful measure of those needs. We should not normalize the practice of asking for less simply because we believe the answer might be no. There is an important difference between advocating for responsible state spending and understating the resources that the state's own formula determines are necessary. The first is a legitimate policy decision. The second risks compromising the transparency and usefulness of the state's budgeting process.

I respectfully ask Governor Kehoe and the Missouri State Board of Education to reconsider this approach and ensure that the FY2028 budget request transparently communicates the full amount identified through Missouri's statutory Foundation Formula. I am not asking the Governor or the General Assembly to blindly appropriate every dollar that a formula produces. I am asking for an honest starting point for the conversation. 

Let the formula tell us what the state has determined is necessary. Let DESE clearly communicate that amount. Let the Governor make his recommendations. Let the General Assembly debate the request and determine the appropriation. Then let Missourians evaluate those decisions based upon a transparent accounting of the resources required to educate the state's children. Missouri's public schools deserve nothing less. More importantly, Missouri's students deserve nothing less.

As superintendent of a Missouri public school district, I have a responsibility to be a responsible steward of taxpayer resources. I also have a responsibility to advocate for the students entrusted to our care. Those responsibilities are not in conflict. Fiscal responsibility requires transparency, and transparency requires that we accurately communicate the resources necessary to fulfill the state's educational expectations.

We may ultimately disagree about how much Missouri can afford to appropriate. That is a legitimate policy debate. We should not, however, disagree about what Missouri's own formula says is necessary. Our students deserve an honest accounting.

Respectfully,

Chris Paullus

Superintendent

Diamond R-IV School District

Diamond, Missouri