Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst Joseph Miller notes that legislation pending in the Missouri state house could fix MoDOT's short term funding problems while creating opportunities to meet future funding requirements.
Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst Joseph Miller explains that the Regional Sports Authority (RSA) is using taxpayer money to sue the city of Saint Louis. Their lawsuit would prevent a vote to decide whether city taxpayers will finance a new football stadium.
In June of 2013, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a state law that allowed students in unaccredited school districts to transfer to nearby accredited districts. The student’s home district would be responsible for making tuition payments and providing transportation. Using data, firsthand accounts, and structured interviews with school district superintendents, this paper examines what happened in response to the transfer program. Specifically, it examines how the districts responded. In all, more than 2,000 students transferred from the unaccredited Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts, roughly a quarter of the total student population. These students transferred to two dozen area school districts. Except in isolated cases, evidence suggests that these students were largely absorbed into receiving school districts without causing much disruption. For the unaccredited school districts, however, the transfer program had a profound impact on school finances.
Read James Shuls's recent paper on this subject: Interdistrict Choice for Students in Failing Schools: Burden or Boon?
In 2007, the Missouri Supreme Court threw out 60 years of precedent when it decided that the constitution creates collective bargaining rights for government employees. Since then, public agencies, like school districts and cities, have struggled to make sense of their rights and obligations under this rapidly changing body of law.
At this forum, Policy Researcher John Wright discusses some of the key labor issues affecting government workers. He highlights many of the loopholes, oversights, and ambiguities in existing law that harm the transparency of our public institutions and make it harder for citizens to hold their government accountable.
Show-Me Institute intern Jessica Stearns talks about the recent "Show-Me $15" campaign for a higher state-wide minimum wage. She points out that the minimum wage hurts the people it is suppose to help because employers inevitably fire workers to deal with their higher labor costs.
Alternative public charter schools like DeLaSalle in Kansas City serve kids who struggle in traditional public schools. Because of school choice, K'Von Williams is now a senior at DeLaSalle who is benefiting from their unique academic approach.
As K'Von Williams illustrates, DeLaSalle Education Center transforms young lives. Unfortunately, Missouri uses a one-size-fits-all accountability model to evaluate public schools. Because DeLaSalle serves only dropouts and at-risk students, it cannot so easily mask its students' performance like other alternative high schools across the state, which count their students' scores with the overall district. Missouri should reform its public school accountability system so that more students like K'Von get a second chance at receiving a quality education.
Did you know that government union employees get taxpayer funded leave which can be used for partisan activities? While union release time is often to attend conferences or other activities, a recent report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute highlights how unionized government workers in Missouri have misused the practice. They conclude that greater transparency is needed.
In this Speaker Series on Economic Policy presentation, CATO Director of Health Policy Studies, Michael Cannon, discusses the King v. Burwell case that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. In examining this topic, Cannon poses and answers the question: can the president rewrite the ACA without Congress?
Kansas City may soon be talking about building a convention hotel downtown. Just as with other promises of economic development, convention hotel business in other cities have never lived up to projections. Kansas Citians are right to be wary.