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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – KCPS seeks its first bond approval since 1967, but it’s just one of dozens of districts asking voters to fund facilities, teacher pay, and school safety upgrades. Missouri Update – Aligned co-sponsors reception celebrating women in…
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How Missouri Funds Public Schools
This week, the Missouri House Budget Committee approved HB 2, allocating $8.2 billion for elementary and secondary education in the upcoming fiscal year. The committee’s version of the bill also diverges from several of Governor Mike Kehoe‘s early childhood priorities. Specifically, it excludes the Governor’s proposed…
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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – Enrollment decline lurks behind many conversations in education, fueling concern across the spectrum from early childhood through higher education Missouri Update – the Missouri House Budget Committee approved HB 2, allocating $8.2 billion for elementary and secondary education – we breakdown the funding…
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Executive Order… Now What?
President Trump has signed an executive order directing the closure of the U.S. Department of Education, marking a historic shift in federal education policy. While this move fulfills a longstanding conservative goal of returning education authority to the states, major legal, logistical,…
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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – Ambiguity Abounds in Federal Education Policy Missouri Update – Open Enrollment: Debunking the Myths Kansas Update – Aligned’s Role in HB 2303 and the State Longitudinal Data System Additional Highlights – Spring Break: A Student-Inspired Tradition Read our…
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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – Across Kansas and Missouri, voters are being asked to weigh in on school bond proposals that will shape the future of their local schools. From basic facility upgrades to new construction, these bonds are becoming a common tool…
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Quality benchmarking rule receives approval
Today, the Missouri State Board of Education approved a rule formalizing the Quality Assurance Report (QAR) program for early care and education. The QAR program is voluntary, helping early learning providers set benchmarks and improve program quality—not as a punitive…
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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – As Kansas and Missouri work through their education budgets and consider changes to how they fund schools, special education funding is getting long-overdue attention — and the conversation couldn’t come at a more critical time. Missouri Update –…
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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – Although the national test that measures academic achievement may have limitations, the data consistently shows that too many students are not proficient at reading, and progress remains slow. Missouri Update – House committee debates bill to…
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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – For the second year in a row, leaders in Kansas are pushing a plan to consolidate early childhood programs and services currently spread across multiple state departments. Missouri Update – Kids Win Missouri, with the…
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Weekly Update
This week’s highlights: Top News – School choice remains a top priority for Governor Mike Kehoe’s administration, and this week, Missouri lawmakers made progress on one key component—open enrollment. Missouri Update – Bills related to educator tax deductions, hazing legislation, and open enrollment…
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Reading crisis is real no matter the measure
Following our recent newsletter, some in the education community have raised concerns about our use of NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) data, suggesting that it overstates the number of students struggling with reading. NAEP has its limitations—it’s a national benchmark based on…