Charter Schools and Civil Society in Kansas City
After a nine-month tour of America in 1831, French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville published Democracy in America, a volume...
Prop 13 Comes to Missouri
California’s Proposition 13 was enacted in 1978 as a reaction against high property taxes and some dramatic increases in tax...
It’s Listicle Time!
The end of the year is the time for top-ten lists, top-story lists, and best-moments-of-the-year lists, to name a few....
Don’t Worry, We’re All Confused
You know a good report card when you see it, and the recently released annual performance reports (APR) for Missouri...
Pre-K in Kansas City Likely Won’t Deliver on Its Promises
In a recent post, I pointed out that the pre-K program being presented to Kansas City voters is significantly different...
The Majority of Kansas City Families Choose Their Child’s School
The data are in. The families of Kansas City have made their intentions clear by voting with their feet. They...
Truly “Public” Schools?
Have you ever heard any of these chestnuts? Unlike public schools, charter schools make families apply to them which keeps...
Tallying the Costs of Development Subsidies
Cities across Missouri are struggling to provide basic public services. At the same time, they’re giving hundreds of millions of...
A Retirement House of Cards
In a recent blog post about the state of affairs in a couple of Missouri state pension funds, we pointed...
Innovation Brings Hope for Teacher Pensions
The city teacher retirement plans in Missouri are in trouble. There’s a solid chance that the Kansas City Public Schools...
Cities May Actually Be the Culprit in Underfunding Schools
Education funding is a hot topic in several states, with lawsuits alleging that state governments are failing to meet their...
Who Is to Blame for Underfunded Schools?
Education funding is an ever present issue in state budgets and Missouri is no exception. My colleagues have written about...
Charter Schools’ Accountability Is Their Strength
The Nirvana fallacy often gets in the way of policymaking when, as Voltaire described, we let the perfect become the...
Education Reform Should Be Top Priority for Missouri’s Leaders
On November 8, Missourians sent a clear message: We want change. Republicans won every major statewide office—all of which but...
Getting Less out of More: Kansas City’s Declining Tax Base
The use of incentives such as TIF and abatements appears to be eroding Kansas City’s tax base. In the chart...
A New School and Governance Model for the New School Year in Kansas City
In just a few weeks, a new public charter school is opening in Kansas City. The Kansas City Neighborhood Academy...
Local Control in Education, Properly Understood
If you head West on I-70, past the inner-ring suburbs of St. Louis and over the Missouri river, you’ll happen...
What to Make of the Kansas City School Board Elections
The results are (finally) in. After over a week of vote counting—all of the candidates were write-ins because no candidate...
Evergreen Headline: Kansas City Needs More Good Schools
Over at the Star, Joe Robertson put together a heart-wrenching piece of journalism documenting the struggles of Kansas City families...
The Kids Are Alright
Mathematica public policy research just released a high-quality, rigorous evaluation of the Ewing Marion Kauffman charter school in Kansas City....
