Jodi Fortino
Education ReporterMore than ever, education lies at the intersection of equity, housing, funding, and other diverse issues facing Kansas City’s students, families and teachers. As KCUR’s education reporter, I’ll break down the policies driving these issues in schools and report what’s happening in our region's classrooms. You can reach me at jodifortino@kcur.org.
I'm a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
-
Natianna Ohmart, an English teacher at William Chrisman High School, said the tax levy's passage would take financial pressure off her strained budget.
-
Dustan Farr said the Platte County School District’s policy to ban transgender students from using the restroom that aligns with their gender identity has "crushed" his daughter's education.
-
Avery Vehlewald, a 7-year-old from Overland Park, is headed to Japan next month to compete in the Pokémon World Championship. He’ll be competing with his 9-year-old brother, Glenn, who also qualified.
-
Kansas City will be flocking to the movies this weekend for the long-anticipated "Barbie" movie and its double-feature partner, "Oppenheimer." Here's where you can go around the metro to celebrate both — or just Barbie's — movie premiere.
-
One Kansas hospital was planning to start welcoming 100 nurses from the Philippines this fall. But a lengthy backlog in visa applications has put that on hold, possibly for a year or longer. Plus: A handful of states have not adopted the federal government’s option to extend postpartum care coverage for mothers on Medicaid.
-
In the first full year of the pandemic, both states saw drops in reading and math proficiency. But educators hope that higher levels of school funding in Kansas should help reverse the trend.
-
Missouri only started collecting data on seclusion and restraint this year, and many schools aren't reporting how often they use the practices. A Belton mom whose son was repeatedly secluded and restrained says schools are also using those methods in inappropriate ways.
-
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.
-
Many Indigenous languages are at risk of dying out after centuries of forced assimilation. A cohort of administrators at Kansas City Public Schools and members of the KC Indian Center are trying to change that by bringing the Cherokee language to East High School.
-
The Lee’s Summit School District won its countersuit against the then-Missouri attorney general when a judge ruled Eric Schmitt could not order schools to cease their COVID mitigation efforts.