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Read. Follow. Verify.Missouri House Bill 2539 Establishes New School Accountability Ratings, Report Cards, and Financial Awards
Last action · May 15, 2026: Referred: Emerging Issues(H)Sponsors: Jon Patterson and 1 other
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What This Bill Would Do
Missouri public schools and districts will receive letter ratings from A to F based on student performance, growth, and graduation rates under a new accountability system established by House Bill 2539. The measure requires annual report cards to be published online by July 15 for embargoed versions and August 15 for public releases. It also creates the Show Me Success Program to provide performance-based funding for nonrecurring staff bonuses in top-performing schools.
Schools failing to test at least ninety-five percent of their students face an automatic one-level rating reduction, while schools ranking in the top ten percent for student performance or academic growth become eligible for financial awards of fifty to one hundred dollars per student starting after the 2026-27 assessment.
- House Bill 2539 was introduced during the 2026 Regular Session of the Missouri General Assembly by Representative Jonathan Patterson. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Public school districts, public schools, and public charter schools
Must report data, receive annual letter ratings, publish report cards, and become eligible for performance-based funding or rating reductions.
School faculty and classroom staff
Eligible to receive nonrecurring performance bonuses funded through the Show Me Success Program.
Students
Participate in assessments that determine school accountability ratings, growth measures, and school funding rewards.
Key Facts
- The state board of education must develop an annual accountability report card for each public school district, public school, and public charter school.
- Report cards must be provided in an embargoed version to schools by July 15 and published on the department website within thirty-six hours, and published by schools by August 15.
- Schools and districts receive letter ratings from "A" to "F" based on a zero-to-one-hundred scale representing student outcomes.
- Schools testing fewer than ninety-five percent of their students have their rating lowered by one level.
Show all 9 facts
- The Show Me Success Program provides performance-based funding of one hundred dollars per student for schools in the top five percent in performance or growth, and fifty dollars per student for those in the top ten percent below the top five percent.
- Rewards from the Show Me Success Program must be used for nonrecurring bonuses to school faculty and classroom staff.
- High school ratings are based 25 percent on academic achievement, 25 percent on value-added growth, 25 percent on growth to proficiency, 15 percent on the Success Ready Graduate measure, and 10 percent on the four-year graduation rate.
- Elementary and middle school ratings are based 40 percent on academic achievement, 30 percent on value-added growth, and 30 percent on growth to proficiency.
- When sixty-five percent of public schools earn an "A" or a "B", the grading scale thresholds automatically increase by five percentage points the following school year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are school letter ratings determined?
What happens if a school fails to test enough students?
How will financial awards from the Show Me Success Program be used?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
4 actions- May 15, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred: Emerging Issues(H)
- Jan 8, 2026HouseFloorRead Second Time (H)
- Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroducedRead First Time (H)
- Dec 19, 2025HouseIntroducedPrefiled (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Introduction of Dynamic Grading Standards
The bill introduces an automatic tightening mechanism that raises grading thresholds when 65 percent of schools achieve top ratings, preventing performance stagnation.
Connected Entities
Sources
house.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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