JEFFERSON CITY | Legislation allowing the state to intervene in failing school districts immediately instead of having to wait two years won unanimous approval from the Senate Education Committee Wednesday.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. David Pearce of Warrensburg, could result in the school board of the unaccredited Kansas City district being dissolved and replaced by a new governing structure developed by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The House Education Committee passed an identical bill last month.

“There is a lot of support for this idea in the legislature right now,” said Pearce, who serves as chairman of the Education Committee. “I’m very hopeful we can get this done.”

Under current law, a school district has two years after losing its accreditation to turn its performance around or face the potential of a state takeover. Sen. Joe Keaveny, a St. Louis Democrat, said the leadership of a school district has a lot to do with how accreditation is lost, so it makes no sense to allow that leadership to continue for two years.

In September, the Missouri Board of Education voted to revoke the accreditation of the Kansas City school district because it failed to reach state performance standards, the second time in 11 years that the district has lost accreditation.

Two months later, Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro asked the Kansas City school board to consider voluntarily turning control of the district over to a not-yet-created special administrative board. Board members rejected the suggestion, arguing that the state needed to present a more concrete plan before any discussion of dissolving the school board could take place.

Both Pearce and the House sponsor, Republican Rep. Mike Lair of Chillicothe, hope the bill can pass without any other education provisions being added. But that may not be the best way forward, according Republican Sen. Jane Cunningham of Chesterfield.

Cunningham is sponsoring her own education legislation that also allows for immediate state intervention in a failing school district. However, it also includes other more controversial measures, such as a forced break up and annexation of the Kansas City school district by surrounding districts.

Her bill also would create a state tax-credit funded scholarship program for students in unaccredited districts to attend private or parochial schools.

“Putting all these issues together is a better way to do it,” Cunningham said.

Pearce disagrees, arguing that bundling the issues together will decrease the likelihood that anything will pass.

“I think we should take one issue at a time and debate it on its own merit,” Pearce said. “That’s the best way to get something done.”