Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)

About 60% of the teachers, principals, aides and other staff at KIPP Kansas City have left in the last year, describing a chaotic environment with frequent mishaps. Leaders say they're trying to reimagine the charter and not everyone is on board with the changes.

Missouri has approved three recovery high schools to open in Kansas City, St. Louis and Cape Girardeau. The schools will help support students with their recovery from substance use while they earn their high school degree.

Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City was waiting on $400,000 in federal subsidies. Educators say the freeze put smaller child care providers in a "heartbreaking" situation.

The federal government told the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that the funds would be paused until "detailed justification" was provided for pending child care payments.

After the state's education department oversaw a pilot program teaching science through agriculture, lawmakers saw an opportunity for more.

Missouri Speaker of the House Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, who was in St. Louis at an event for DraftKings, said much of the tax revenue from legal sports betting in the state is expected to go to public schools. But it's unclear how much money they'll actually get.

Kim Sixta, a social studies teacher at Ruskin High School in the Hickman Mills School District, was named Missouri's 2026 Teacher of the Year. She's the busiest person her students know, but they say she makes time for them all.

Missouri education leaders said complex licensing regulations make the child care field unattractive to prospective providers amid a statewide shortage.

The National Assessment of Education Progress found Missouri and other states made small gains in some areas, but students are struggling to return to pre-pandemic math and reading levels.

Some child care centers closed and others turned away families during months of missed payments caused by software problems. But Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger said 70% of that backlog has been resolved.

The Missouri Charter Public School Commission voted not to renew Genesis School's charter for another five years. The charter school has long served students in Kansas City who struggle academically.

Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education officials said the data signals a turning point in a teacher shortage the state has struggled to address in recent years.