Blog | Show-Me Institute | Where Liberty Comes First

27 Mar

Lawless: The Miseducation of America’s Elites with Ilya Shapiro on April 10

Posted by Show-Me Institute Staff Accountability, Courts, Criminal Justice, Education, State and Local Government, Transparency

In partnership with the WashULaw Federalist Society, the Show-Me Institute is pleased to present Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional […]

Charter school expansion, certificate of need, school choice, empty school hallway, competition in education, school choice in Missouri

26 Mar

Preventing a De Facto Ban of Charter Schools

Posted by Scott Tanner Education, School Choice

The passage of Senate Bill (SB) 727 last year was an important step toward expanding charter access in Missouri, increasing […]

Investor-owned housing, corporate landlords, housing affordability, zoning restrictions, housing regulations

26 Mar

Reporting on Housing Fails to Ask Basic Question

Posted by Scott Tanner State and Local Government

The Kansas City Star recently published a piece on investor-owned housing that seeks to raise the alarm on corporate landlords, […]

24 Mar

Jackson County Assessment Disputes Will (Hopefully) Lead to Real Change This Time

Posted by Mike Ederer State and Local Government, Taxes

A version of this commentary appeared in the Examiner. It’s an obscure state law that every article about government and politics […]

DOGE, Metrolink, government waste, Green Line, North South line proposal, Department of Transportation

18 Mar

Hey Elon, Here Are Some Cost Savings for You in St. Louis . . .

Posted by Scott Tanner Economy, State and Local Government, Transportation

I am a big fan of DOGE, MOGE, and whatever else they want to call any office that attempts to […]

14 Mar

March 26: Insider’s Hour in Kansas City

Posted by Show-Me Institute Staff Budget and Spending, Business Climate, Corporate Welfare, Economy, Education, Free-Market Reform, Health Care, Medicaid, Municipal Policy, Property Rights, Special Taxing Districts, State and Local Government, Subsidies, Tax Credits, Taxes, Transparency, Workforce

What’s Happening in Jefferson City? Get the inside scoop on the Missouri legislative session and policies that could directly impact […]

DOGE, MIssouri MOGE, spending cuts, government efficiency, Show-Me DOGE

13 Mar

Where’s Show-Me DOGE?

Posted by Scott Tanner Budget and Spending, State and Local Government

Missouri’s financial clock is ticking. It’s been nearly two months since Governor Kehoe announced during his State of the State […]

World cup, mega events, subsidies, economic development policy, tourists, stadium spending

12 Mar

Mega Events Fail to Deliver: World Cup Edition

Posted by Patrick Tuohey Corporate Welfare, Subsidies

Every few years, cities fall into the same trap. A major event—whether it’s the World Cup, the Olympics, or the […]

12 Mar

New Data Update: See the Latest Missouri School Rankings and Spending Reports

Posted by Susan Pendergrass Accountability, Education, Education Finance, Performance, School Choice

As of March 12, 2025, MoSchoolRankings.org features the latest performance data for every Missouri public school and district. See where […]

12 Mar

Declining Enrollment, Rising Budgets with Ben Scafidi

Posted by Susan Pendergrass Accountability, Education, Education Finance, Performance, School Choice

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Ben Scafidi, professor of economics and director of the Education Economics Center at Kennesaw State University. […]

Medicaid reform, Medicaid costs, state budgets, provider taxes, PTD shifting

11 Mar

Medicaid’s Checkup: Part 4

Posted by Elias Tsapelas Health Care, Medicaid

“Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome.” This insightful quote from the late investor Charlie Munger is […]

10 Mar

Unintended Consequences: When Well-Meaning Policies Backfire

Posted by James V. Shuls State and Local Government

F.A. Hayek famously wrote, “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about […]

Empty classroom, Missouri education, accountability, DESE, Missouri State Board of Education, Missouri school accreditation

07 Mar

Missouri’s Rural Schools Can Benefit from Open Enrollment

Posted by Susan Pendergrass Accountability, Education, Education Finance, Performance, School Choice

Many believe that rural districts and students can’t benefit from open enrollment, but the reality is quite the opposite. Rural […]

Municipal policy, water meter, water privatization, Sugar Creek, Missouri American Water, public services

07 Mar

The Salad Days in Sugar Creek

Posted by David Stokes Economy, Privatization

The Kansas City suburb of Sugar Creek is considering selling off its water system to Missouri American Water. The proposal […]

07 Mar

Open Enrollment: Erasing Seven Myths in Missouri

Posted by Avery Frank Education, School Choice

The adoption of open enrollment in Missouri, which would allow any student to register at any public school in the […]

07 Mar

The Role of Culture and Character in Education with Jason Bedrick

Posted by James V. Shuls Accountability, Education, Education Finance, Performance, School Choice

James Shuls, senior fellow of education policy at the Show-Me Institute and head of the K-12 education reform branch of […]

06 Mar

Can We Handle the Truth . . . of Our Cities’ Financial Status?

Posted by Patrick Tuohey Municipal Policy, State and Local Government

The “Financial State of the Cities 2025” report by Truth in Accounting provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health […]

05 Mar

Missouri Pension System Pushes Out Another Great Educator

Posted by James V. Shuls Labor, Public Pensions

Sometimes the headline says it all. And sometimes a headline leaves us scratching our heads. Take, for example, this headline […]

28 Feb

Ending Educational Redlining with Tim DeRoche

Posted by Susan Pendergrass Accountability, Education, Education Finance, Performance, School Choice

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Tim DeRoche from Available to All about the importance of open enrollment in public schools, particularly […]

26 Feb

Concerns about Kansas City Animal Control Operations

Posted by David Stokes Municipal Policy, Privatization, State and Local Government

There is a lot of controversy regarding animal control operations in Kansas City. Animal control in Kansas City has gone […]