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Neither the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education nor the Missouri State High School Activities Association could say how they will enforce the state's restrictions on transgender athletes — one of the most controversial new laws approved by Missouri legislators this year.
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To help solve Missouri's shortage of school staff, Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation last week that allows educators to work full-time for a district without losing their retirement benefits. The law also affects positions like bus drivers and janitors.
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Missouri secluded and restrained more than 1,000 students last school year. Justyn Jefferson, an 11-year-old from Belton, is one of them. But because schools don't always report instances of seclusion and restraint, it's difficult to know if they're using the techniques legally.
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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.
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Applicants to the state child care subsidy program often face long call center wait times and onerous paperwork requirements — and child care providers who accept the subsidy face administrative hurdles of their own.
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The Hickman Mills School Board says it's renewing its efforts to work together after contentious meetings amid a decade-long battle to regain accreditation.
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This is the first time Missouri schools are being rated under a new accountability system. Kansas City Public Schools — which just regained full accreditation last year — sits just above the range for provisional accreditation, while Hickman Mills would remain provisional. However, the state won't use these results to change accreditation status until the 2023-2024 school year.
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Thousands of other Missouri families are waiting for benefits called summer Pandemic EBT, a federal program administered by states that provides a one-time deposit of $391 in grocery benefits for each eligible child. Compared to every other surrounding state, Missouri’s delays have been especially unusual.
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Kansas Democrats can't seem to overcome the urban-rural divide that's keeping them out of the state legislature, despite some gains in Johnson County. Plus: A new law is changing how Missouri students are taught to read.
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Education leaders want Missouri teachers to lean into research-backed literacy instruction methods, known as the science of reading.
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The pandemic caused a greater loss in math instructional time compared to English language arts. There was also a loss in instructional time in virtual or distance learning compared to hybrid or in-classroom instruction.
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Charlie Shields, the state board of education’s president, said Missouri is at a "point of crisis" as a state commission tries to come up with solutions for its chronic teacher shortage.