2005 Missouri Revised Statutes - § 160.550. — Incentive payments to reduce pupil/teacher ratios and improve achievement--teacher defined--eligibility--rulemaking procedure.

Incentive payments to reduce pupil/teacher ratios and improve achievement--teacher defined--eligibility--rulemaking procedure.

160.550. 1. There is hereby authorized a program, subject to appropriation, for the 1995, 1996, and 1997 fiscal years to provide incentive payments to school districts to reduce pupil/teacher ratios and promote student achievement in grades kindergarten to three. In providing incentive payments authorized by this section, the state board of education, by rule and regulation, shall take into account the instructional methods that school districts use to qualify for the incentive payment. The state board of education shall promulgate any rules it deems necessary to effectively implement the provisions of this section. Any school district which achieves a pupil/teacher ratio of twenty-five to one or lower in any grades kindergarten to three shall be eligible for incentive payments pursuant to this section.

2. For the purposes of this section, the term "teacher" means a certificated teacher licensed to teach in Missouri, who is a regular classroom teacher in a regular instructional program. The term shall not include aides, administrators, or teachers with temporary certificates.

3. School districts shall be eligible for incentive payments only where the district can substantiate according to rules and regulations of the state board of education that the pupil/teacher ratio in the grade levels not affected by the program authorized by this section did not increase in order to meet the requirements for the incentive payment. Further, by rule and regulation of the state board of education, criteria shall be established to disqualify school districts from receiving incentive payments outlined in this section if such qualification is due to enrollment decreases in the district that have occurred in grades kindergarten to three.

4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude the teaching staff within a school from grouping pupils in alternative ways for instruction, including, but not limited to, team teaching, class-within-a-class, cooperative learning, and ungraded approaches to teaching; provided, however, that such alternative instructional groupings are not used in grade levels not affected by the program outlined in this section in order to meet the criteria to qualify for receiving incentive payments for the reduction in class size in grades kindergarten to three.

5. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of sections 160.500 to 160.538, sections 160.545 and 160.550, sections 161.099 and 161.610, RSMo, sections 162.203 and 162.1010, RSMo, section 163.023, RSMo, sections 166.275 and 166.300, RSMo, section 170.254, RSMo, section 173.750, RSMo, and sections 178.585 and 178.698, RSMo, shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.

(L. 1993 S.B. 380 §§ 17, 20, A.L. 1995 S.B. 3)

*This section was repealed by S.B. 287, 2005, effective 7-1-06. Consult RSMo 2000 for existing section.

*Contingent expiration date. See section 143.107.

(1996) Contingent referendum provision was found to be an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority thereby making section 143.107 void. Akin v. Director of Revenue, 934 S.W.2d 295 (Mo.banc).