Missouri Independent » Education
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The Missouri Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy.
Missouri Independent » Education
16h ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education named the first six organizations to participate in the phased rollout of the 2025-26 form to apply for federal financial student aid Wednesday, and opened up the interest form for high schools, school districts and other entities to get involved in its next three testing periods. In August, the department said it ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
2d ago
The Missouri House Budget Committee grilled state education officials for over two hours Wednesday morning over the backlog of payments in the child care subsidy program. House Budget Chair Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, pressed subsidy administrators about how the backlog may affect the state budget. Although officials didn’t know at the beginning of ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
2d ago
Julita Harris has worked in child care for 47 years and has refused to shut down her business, Peter Rabbit Learning and Development Center in St. Joseph, despite mounting financial concerns. The preschool has become a family affair, with her son Edwin helping with administrative tasks. Lately, that’s meant watching for payments from the state’s ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
3d ago
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is asking for over $174 million in supplemental funding for this school year after receiving $1 billion less in appropriations compared to the previous year. When the State Board of Education reviewed the budget bill approved by lawmakers in May, Board Chair Charlie Shields predicted that “the ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
1w ago
It has been a year since a state law required Missouri schools to have athletes compete according to their sex as assigned at birth, and few student manuals and school-board policies reflect the change. Enforcement, which was murky last year, remains unprescribed with many districts stating that they will follow the law without describing how ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
1w ago
The mailers started showing up in Rep. Jeff Farnan’s district months before the Aug. 6 primary, labeling the Republican from Stanberry a tool of teacher’s unions with an agenda of “open borders” and “higher taxes.” By the time voters went to the polls, the Missouri chapter of the American Federation for Children had spent $90,000 ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
1w ago
Bridget Bolder sent her daughter, Mia, to kindergarten at a neighborhood public school. After all, it seemed the “normal, regular thing to do.” But Bolder started to worry that some of her daughter’s classmates were exposing her to inappropriate topics. Early in the school year, Mia had to tell a teacher about a boy groping ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
2w ago
WASHINGTON — With the U.S. Department of Education using a staggered approach in opening up the 2025-26 application period for federal financial student aid, the agency said Tuesday it will partner with a small number of community-based organizations to participate in the first testing period beginning Oct. 1. Earlier in August, the department said it would use ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
2w ago
Missouri lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are calling for emergency interim committees to investigate the state’s monthslong child care subsidy backlog ..read more
Missouri Independent » Education
3w ago
Superintendent Jennifer Collier understands why families weren’t inspired by the last Kansas City Public Schools building plan. “It really just felt like … trying to convince people why they should be OK with us taking away their school,” she said. A new plan to build at least two new schools and renovate others, reshuffle students ..read more