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Access nonpartisan research and news about the policies shaping education in Kansas and Missouri.





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  • Post-Session Analysis: 2026 Missouri Education Policy

    Event Overview This webinar walked through the major education issues, key bills, and policy conversations that shaped the session. We will also share what passed, what stalled, and what to watch as Missouri leaders continue working to strengthen student outcomes…

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  • Weekly Update — 04/24/26

    This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. Missouri’s assessment pilot and the case for balanced accountability Missouri’s new assessment pilot has given life to an age-old debate in education policy. As we wrote last August,…

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  • 2026 Kansas Legislative Recap

    Event Overview This webinar walked through the key bills, major priorities, and outcomes that shaped the session. We also shared what passed, what stalled, and what to watch heading into the next year. Event DetailsDate: May 6, 2026Time: 12:00 PM…

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  • Weekly Update — 04/17/26

    This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. Kansas announces new commissioner On Tuesday, the Kansas State Board of Education selected Dr. Jake Steel to succeed Dr. Randy Watson as the state’s…

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  • Weekly Update — 04/10/26

    Many of Aligned’s priority bills become law This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. As lawmakers returned to Topeka for the final days of session, several of Aligned’s priority bills ranging across…

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  • Weekly Update — 04/03/26

    This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. After months of major design questions, members of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force began to converge on key design choices that will…

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  • Missouri’s Teacher Supply Hourglass: Why the Missing Middle Matters

    Mature teacher handing out homework.

    This blog provides an overview of Aligned’s Missouri’s Classroom Teacher Experience Series, a three-part analysis examining how shifts in experience, placement, and credentials are reshaping the state’s educator pipeline. Over the next three weeks, we will release the full reports…

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  • Weekly Update

    This Week’s Highlights: Top story — Kansas and Missouri begin shaping how Workforce Pell Grants will work in practice, with legislation in both states outlining program approval and implementation. Kansas — Lawmakers finalize the FY 2027 state budget and wrap up major education bills in conference committees ahead…

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  • Kansas Legislature passes state budget

    This analysis originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter, where we track key education and workforce policy developments across Kansas and Missouri. Subscribe to get these updates delivered directly to your inbox. Late Thursday night into earlier this morning, the Kansas Senate (23-16) and House of…

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  • Weekly Update

    This Week’s Highlights: Top story — Kansas lawmakers advance SB 517, a sweeping literacy bill focused on strengthening implementation, accountability, and early intervention as the state pushes toward a 90% third-grade reading goal. Kansas — Cell phone ban signed into law. And several education bills await…

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  • Kansas Enacts Statewide Cell Phone Policy

    Kansas’ student cell phone legislation has become law, ultimately moving forward through a different vehicle.  After additional negotiations, the Senate’s policy approach in SB 302 was incorporated into Senate Substitute for Substitute for House Bill 2299, which is now law.  The final bill…

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  • Weekly Update

    This Week’s Highlights: Top story — Kansas’ bell-to-bell cell phone ban has cleared both chambers of the Legislature and now sits on Governor Laura Kelly’s desk, putting the state one signature away from adopting one of the strongest school-day device restrictions in the…

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