By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO. – The Missouri Legislature has given final approval to a plan that changes the way the state doles out money to public schools.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed the measure on a largely party-line vote early today and the House followed suit about 12 hours later. The bill now goes to Governor Matt Blunt, who has called the legislation the "right approach."
The bill ends the current method of basing payments largely on property tax rates and wealth. It sets a minimum spending per student of about 61-hundred dollars.
The plan will be phased in over seven years, starting in the 2006-07 school year.
The legislation does not spell out how the state would fund the plan.