(The Lion) — Several Missouri families are entering the legal fray to defend Missouri’s school choice program, MOScholars, after a teachers’ union sued over the state’s allocation of $51 million to it.

The state created MOScholars in 2021 to increase education options for families by offering tax credits to those who donate to the scholarship program. The state earlier this year allocated $51 million to the program, which school choice advocates celebrated as a win for the thousands of who have been stuck on a waitlist for scholarships.

Yet the Missouri National Education Association filed a lawsuit over the funding on July 1, arguing that it is illegal for the government to directly fund the program rather than merely offering tax credits to scholarship donors.

On Wednesday, three Missouri families, represented by EdChoice Legal Advocates (ECLA), filed a motion to intervene as defendants in the case, asking the Cole County court to let them join the legal battle and defend the program in court.

“MOScholars has provided Missouri families with increased educational options for several years,” ECLA Director of Litigation Thomas Fisher said in a statement provided to The Lion. “The recent expansion of the program is constitutional and will expand education freedom for low-income families and students with learning differences.”

MOScholars helps families by providing education savings accounts they can use for tuition, fees, tutoring, textbooks and other services, the statement added. The teachers’ union lawsuit, which asks the court to issue an injunction halting the funding, would “disrupt education for thousands of students beginning this school year.”

The funding, unless it is thwarted by the lawsuit, is expected to triple the size of the scholarship program by adding around 7,000 new scholarships, as The Lion previously reported.

According to ECLA, the three Missouri families it represents either currently use MOScholars or are seeking scholarships for additional children. One of the parents, Kyla Knight, is a mother of three who has used the MOScholars program to access a tutor for her youngest child’s reading challenges. The newly-appropriated funds would help cover tuition for her older two children, allowing the family to keep up with rising tuition costs and allow her children to “continue learning in a setting that is best for them.”

Another parent in the motion to intervene, Cassie Clooten, is raising three boys and seeks MOScholars funding this year for her oldest two children to cover increased tuition costs, ECLA said. Clooten’s youngest son has been a part of the scholarship program for three years, enabling the family to secure supplies for schoolwork, including a computer.

Another parent, Libby Eversgerd, is a mother to four children and started relying on MOScholars for her youngest son, who “began to resist attending school due to mounting pressure and lack of accommodations for his learning differences.”

“Through MOScholars, she was able to enroll him in a small, private school where his grades and attendance improved dramatically,” the group said. “She hopes that additional funding for MOScholars means she will no longer have to wait until late in the school year to receive a scholarship for her son.”

“Missouri families depend on MOScholars to afford educational options that best fit their children’s needs,” Fisher said. “We are proud to support these brave parents who are stepping forward to defend and protect the expansion of the MOScholars program.”

Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office did not return a request for comment from The Lion about the lawsuit and parents seeking to intervene in the case.