Education
Challenges persist for St. Louis schools, as NAACP pushes for improved literacy rates
A complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. A fired school superintendent and an interim leader without proper state certification. Two government audits, and a shortage of school buses and bus drivers. The start of the 2024-2025 school year has been anything but routine for the St. Louis Public School […]
Education: Where do Harris and Trump stand?
As former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris sprint to the November finish line, one sprawling policy area has largely fallen out of the spotlight — education. Though the respective GOP and Democratic presidential candidates have spent comparatively more time campaigning on issues such as immigration, foreign policy and the economy, their ideas […]
Biden’s student loan relief plan suffers another setback in Missouri ruling
The Biden administration was hit with the latest blow to its student debt relief efforts on Thursday after a federal judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the administration from putting in place a plan that would provide student debt relief to millions of borrowers. The ruling further hinders the administration’s efforts to promote its work on […]
U.S. Department of Education begins testing of new FAFSA form
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education is launching the first testing period for its phased rollout of the 2025-26 form to apply for federal financial student aid on Tuesday, with more students set to partake in this beginning testing stage than initially expected. The department announced in August it would be using a staggered approach to […]
School shooting damage lasts for years, survivors tell panel of U.S. House Democrats
WASHINGTON — The devastating effects of school shootings continue well after shootings occur, according to survivors, experts and educators who spoke at a roundtable U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats held Monday. Democrats scheduled the discussion after the recent school shooting in Georgia, where two students and two teachers were killed. Witnesses told the […]
Advocates call for expanding free school meals at U.S. Senate hearing
WASHINGTON — Amid persistent child hunger and food insecurity in the United States, lawmakers and advocates on Wednesday stressed the importance of school meal programs during a U.S. Senate Agriculture subcommittee hearing. Hunger severely impacts kids’ emotional and physical well-being and can lead to negative outcomes in school, research has shown. Last year, 47.4 million people lived in food-insecure households, […]
Left powerless: Non-English–speaking parents denied vital translation services
For months, Wendy Rodas felt disempowered and silenced whenever she tried to reach out to her daughter’s Missouri elementary school. The El Salvadorian mother of three, who primarily speaks Spanish, struggled to communicate with teachers, administrators and district leaders. She made repeated requests for the interpretation services that she — and all public school parents who […]
Concerns over private student loans brought to U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — As private student loan companies take heat over accusations of predatory behavior and deception, members of a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs panel and student advocates voiced concerns over the industry at a hearing Tuesday. The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection hearing came as the broader student […]
U.S. Education Department to open new financial aid form to more applicants
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 […]
Missouri education officials face second day of tough questions over child care subsidy
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. Officials were not able during the meeting to […]
Missouri lawmakers hear from child care providers about massive subsidy payment backlog
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 […]
Missouri education department says state funding for school year is $100 million short
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 […]