Maria Benevento
Education Reporter, Kansas City BeaconMaria Benevento is the education reporter at The Kansas City Beacon. She is a Report for America corps member.
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A Missouri bill lays out a plan to let more public schools to teach the Bible, but designing a course that respects students’ First Amendment rights can be tricky.
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Robert Sagastume, a senior student advisor with the Hispanic Development Fund, and Spark Bookhart, a convener with the Parent Power Lab, are seeking the subdistrict 3 spot on the Kansas City Public Schools board.
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An independent group at William Jewell revealed the college founders’ deep ties to slavery, including the fact that enslaved people helped build Jewell Hall and that the college's namesake Dr. William Jewell did not free all the people he enslaved, contrary to previous accounts.
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The Stanley M. Herzog Charitable Foundation has awarded grants to schools that exclude LGBTQ students and families and paid for creationist science teacher training.
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Hickman Mills school board candidates discussed accreditation, conflict on the board and their priorities for the district.
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That there are fewer candidates this year may be a return to the status quo, but it prevents the public from weighing in on who should govern local school districts.
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The district is hoping to keep people involved after a school closure plan drew widespread attention.
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The Missouri General Assembly is already fielding legislation on college students and campus life.
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Legislation prefiled for the 2023 session would expand charter schools, help parents fund private school education and give homeschoolers access to public school activities.
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While parents are campaigning to remove books in school districts around Kansas City, the Redacted Readers club in Liberty is meeting to read and discuss banned books holistically — and encourage members to speak out on behalf of the challenged texts.