Why America Can’t Build Enough Housing with Edward L. Glaeser
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Edward L.Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard University and nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise...
What the Media Gets Wrong About School Choice with Matthew Ladner
Susan Pendergrass talks with Matthew Ladner, senior advisor for education policy implementation at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy,...
Denied Entrance at the Port of Call
It is often said that government taxes and spends like drunken sailors, and that metaphor is particularly appropriate when referring...
Does Democratic Accountability Work in Public Education?
I used to believe that local school board elections were an effective tool for holding public schools accountable, but I...
Missouri’s Stagnant Reading Scores
The COVID-19 pandemic began over five years ago. Students in 7th grade during the initial phase of remote learning are...
Connecting Nuclear Energy’s Past and Present: Guiding Missouri’s Future
Nuclear power provides nearly 20% of electricity in the United States, yet new construction has stalled even as demand rises....
Faith-Based Charter Schools and the Future of School Choice with Andy Smarick
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Andy Smarick, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, about a recent U.S. Supreme Court case that...
What the New Federal K-12 Tax Credit Program Could Mean for Missouri
One of the most notable policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) is the establishment of the first-ever federal...
Let’s Celebrate (and learn from) State Tech, One of the Best Technical Colleges in the Country
State Tech in Linn bills itself as “Missouri’s premier technical college, dedicated to providing hands-on, industry-driven education that prepares students...
Crime, Public Safety, and Perception in St. Louis with Braxton Steele
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Braxton Steele, intern at the Show-Me Institute and student at Missouri State University, about his summer...
The One Big Education Opportunity with Shaka Mitchell
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Shaka Mitchell, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, about how a new federal scholarship...
How Often Should Schools Close?
I’ve been writing a lot lately about the poor performance of Missouri’s schools; for recent examples, see here and here....
Understanding the Decline in Student Test Scores with Jim Wyckoff
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Dr. Jim Wyckoff about how national test scores, especially for the lowest-performing students, began falling well before the pandemic and what states can do to reverse the trend.
In St. Louis County, Who Will Audit the Auditors?
A version of this commentary appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When one thinks of no-show political jobs in Missouri government,...
“Just Let Me Write the Definitions”
In The Power Broker, Robert Caro’s legendary biography of Robert Moses, Caro describes how Moses was fully capable of getting...
Missouri’s Squandered Opportunity
The first step toward finding a solution is admitting there’s a problem. It’s been obvious to anyone who’s been paying...
Statistics Shows Crime Numbers Converging for Major Missouri Cities
The violent crime statistics in the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield tell a much different story today...
One Big Beautiful Bill Breakdown, Part II with Elias Tsapelas
Susan Pendergrass is joined again by Elias Tsapelas, director of state budget and fiscal policy at the Show-Me Institute, for...
Medicaid Reform Incoming
Ready or not, big changes are coming to Missouri’s Medicaid program. Earlier this month, President Trump signed the “One Big...
A Freeze in July?
As a former tutor at a Tennessee Boys & Girls Club, a recent headline caught my eye: the Boys &...
