Have you ever wished your local school would be a little more responsive to your family’s needs? Or have you been searching for a high-quality free school in your area? Those were the concerns of several families in Saint Louis, but instead of hoping and wishing, they are trying to make this dream a reality. Through a true homegrown effort, a new school will be opening in the downtown Saint Louis area next fall: Lafayette Preparatory Academy. I had the opportunity to sit down with Susan Marino, the head of school for this new free, public charter school. Below you will find a transcript of our conversation.

At the Missouri State School Board meeting, where charter schools receive their final approval, the coordinator of educational support services for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education remarked about the excellent application of EAGLE College Prep. This made me curious about the school and I wondered what would make this school so exemplary. So, I recently sat down with Dr. Suzanne Johnson, the school leader of EAGLE College Prep, and Matt Hoehner, the Saint Louis regional executive director of Educational Enterprises, the school’s management company. Below are some quick facts and the transcript from our conversation.

On Wednesday, the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) presented its application for nearly $750 million in federal funding to the state Senate Committee on Education.

The state's largest teacher union, the Missouri National Education Association (MNEA), argued in court on Friday that public school teachers should be represented by either a single union, or none.

On Monday night, Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia) told the Columbia Board of Education that more cuts to the state budget seemed certain, and that the steep decline in state tax revenues would likely affect funding for public schools.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is proposing new regulations for Missouri's 40 charter schools.

Lawsuits filed on behalf of two district affiliates of the Missouri National Education Association have moved forward. The Springfield union affiliate has appealed a judge's decision that teachers can choose between single, multiple, or no union representation, and a case filed by the Bayless union affiliate will go to trial in December.