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Kansas City Today

What we learned on the education beat in 2022

By Laura Ziegler,
Byron J. Love
Published January 4, 2023 at 4:00 AM CST
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Kids around the metro are returning to class after the holiday break — but the new semester has some familiar issues kicking around. Staffing issues in schools, fights over curriculums and controversial mascots were some of the top stories in 2022, and those continued debates are setting the tone for the year ahead.

For schools in Missouri and Kansas, 2022 was supposed to be a "return to normalcy" following the COVID-19 pandemic. But as we begin the first school week of 2023, it's clear that's not how things went.

KCUR's Brian Ellison spoke with Kyle Palmer of the Shawnee Mission Post and Jodi Fortino, education reporter for KCUR, about last year's biggest stories on the education beat and what they're looking out for in the year ahead.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR onTwitter andFacebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

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Kansas City Today educationpublic educationteachersschoolpublic schoolshigh school
Laura Ziegler
As Kansas City grows and diversifies, journalists need to listen to the people, to your challenges and successes..As engagement and solutions editor, I’ll make sure we’re framing stories based on what we hear from you, and we’ll partner with communities so our stories help us understand and connect to one another. Email me at lauraz@kcur.org.
See stories by Laura Ziegler
Byron J. Love
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
See stories by Byron J. Love
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