It’s Time to Hold DESE Accountable
A version of the following commentary appeared in the Columbia Missourian. For years, the Show-Me Institute has scrutinized the Missouri Department...
Let’s Expect Better
Following up on an earlier blog post, it should be noted that the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education...
Missouri Children Deserve Better
Imagine you’re the parent of a twelve year old who just started sixth grade at Oakland Middle School in Columbia,...
Voluntary Open Enrollment Means No Open Enrollment
They say the best defense is offense. Perhaps the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has gotten that...
PRiME Summit Celebrates Schools with Impressive Test Score Growth
I was fortunate to attend an event in late September celebrating Missouri schools that demonstrate high test score growth. The...
Missouri’s Stagnant Reading Scores
The COVID-19 pandemic began over five years ago. Students in 7th grade during the initial phase of remote learning are...
A Freeze in July?
As a former tutor at a Tennessee Boys & Girls Club, a recent headline caught my eye: the Boys &...
Missouri Families Need the “Unsafe School Choice Option”
A version of the following commentary appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When asked why they want school choice, families often...
Information Overload and Missouri School Report Cards
Have you ever started reading the warning label on an over-the-counter drug like aspirin or ibuprofen? Ever finished one? Probably...
New State Board of Education Has a Long To-Do List
A version of this commentary appeared in the Columbia Missourian. Governor Kehoe has appointed four new members to the Missouri...
Performance Districts and Education Spending
The State of Missouri provides almost half of the funding for public education in the Show-Me State. In its latest...
Celebrate Educational Freedom: A Lesson from Florida
I recently learned that Florida was ranked first on the 2025 ALEC Index of State Education Freedom. That ranking did...
Where Did the Report Cards Go?
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is an agency in the executive branch that carries out the...
Will the New Commissioner of Education Bring More Accountability to Missouri School Districts?
I guess we have our answer. On November 25, 2024, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released...
Make Missouri Education Great
President-Elect Trump has repeatedly stated his desire to close the U.S. Department of Education and return education back to the...
Missouri is Spending Less on Instruction
When considering the costs of running a school, we may think of items like teacher salaries, classroom technology, textbooks, and...
St. Louis Public Schools Exemplifies the Need for Educational Transparency
St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) has been in the news a lot recently, and not for the best reasons. The...
Missouri Public Education in Four Graphs
I had a professor in college who was very good at getting his points across by waving his hands in...
Missouri Public-School Enrollment Continues to Fall
K-12 enrollment in Missouri’s public school system has been falling for more than a decade. Today, Missouri has about 30,000...
Well, that Was Fast
Recently, the commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announced that she would be departing her...
