The 15th Senate District also includes some of the highest-rated public school districts in the state, covering all or parts of the Kirkwood, Lindbergh, Valley Park, Rockwood, Parkway, Mehlville and Hancock Place school districts.
Currently, charter schools only operate in St. Louis and Kansas City. A proposal this year would have allowed the schools to operate in any charter county — St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles and Jackson counties — or in any city with more than 30,000 residents.
Casey Burns, campaign manager for Koenig, wouldn’t say whether the incumbent supports expanding charter schools in St. Louis County and specifically the 15th Senate District.
“Senator Koenig has consistently been an advocate for Missouri kids, unlike his opponent — who has opposed every single K-12 budget bill since taking office,” Burns said. “Andrew has voted in favor of public education budgets with record level funding throughout his tenure in Jefferson City.”
Lavender said she has voted against the budget bills because the Legislature hadn’t allocated enough money to public education.
Regarding the contribution to Koenig’s Freedom’s Promise PAC, Lavender said: “I would not have been offered a donation from this source and neither would I have accepted that.
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