Gov. Mike Kehoe created the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force in an executive order in January and appointed members from a wide swath of backgrounds, including a leader from the Missouri Soybean Association and a senior director from the Herzog Foundation, one of six educational assistance organizations that help distribute private school scholarships under the state’s MOScholars program.

Now, with work groups meeting, the number of people guiding the discussion has more than doubled. Among those joining the effort are Linda Quinley, who serves as senior director of school finance for the Missouri School Boards Association, and Premier Charter School’s director of finance Andy Vien.

Read more at .

The post Public education leaders guide task force studying Missouri school funding appeared first on District 91¿´Æ¬istration.

A majority of U.S. adults support cell phone bans during class time, or 68% as recorded in a Pew Research Center poll. But restricting mobile phone use for the entire school day is less popular, with 36% in support.

State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, filed the cell-phone-ban legislation with restrictions only during instructional time. She wanted to give school boards and charter schools the ability to decide whether or not to place further limitations on cell phones, she told The Independent.

Read more at the .

The post Missouri lawmakers pass ban on cell phones in public school classrooms appeared first on District 91¿´Æ¬istration.

It also allows charter schools in Boone County and requires a public vote for districts seeking to go to a four-day school week.

When fully implemented, the legislation is estimated to cost roughly $468 million a year.

.

The post Missouri governor signs $468M education bill that boosts teacher pay, expands charters appeared first on District 91¿´Æ¬istration.

Proposals to allow open enrollment between school districts and expand tax-credit scholarships for private schools are among the first bills to clear legislative committees. Eight more bills have had committee hearings already or are teed up for hearings this week.

After years of failed efforts to get their priorities across the finish line, advocates for making major changes to Missouri’s public school system feel they have the momentum.

.

The post Missouri lawmakers poised for debate over open enrollment, private school scholarships appeared first on District 91¿´Æ¬istration.

So when the Missouri State Board of Education  to change course and pursue social-emotional learning as an optional framework instead of a statewide standard, the reactions were unsurprisingly mixed.

The post Missouri education leaders say social-emotional learning guidelines an ‘ongoing discussion’ appeared first on District 91¿´Æ¬istration.

The Missouri State Board of Education decided Tuesday that Riverview Gardens School District and Normandy Schools Collaborative had shown enough progress to return to traditional school-board elections.

The state currently has appointed board members at Riverview Gardens and Normandy to create administrative boards, which will dissolve at the end of June.

.

The post Missouri education board returns St. Louis-area school districts to local control appeared first on District 91¿´Æ¬istration.