Dive Brief:

• Three southwest Missouri superintendents are wary of St. Louis billionaire Rex Sinquefield's education agenda and influence, saying Monday that public education funding, staffing, and curriculum development should be handled by those in the community.
• The Sinquefield-funded Missouri Club for Growth has donated substantial sums to the opponents of four state House members, and he has strong positions on open enrollment, charter school expansion, and teacher tenure.
• The superintendents say that while Sinquefield has a right to voice his opinions and support candidates, voters should be aware of his agenda.

Dive Insight:

"I want elected officials from the Willard community to think about what's best for the Willard community, not what's best for St. Louis is somewhere else," Willard Superintendent Kent Medlin told the Springfield News-Leader. "I want them to take that message to Jefferson City."

While on a state level, this situation echoes a larger national issue as concern grows over the amount of influence billionaires like the Koch Brothers, who have reportedly funded programs aimed at spreading a particular ideology to students, or even Bill Gates, who helped fund the Common Core State Standards.