Is Success Really Just a Matter of Showing Up?
A student who fails every test in a course is unlikely to get a passing grade just because he makes...
Missouri’s Making Improvements, but Still Trailing
The last few months have been good for the economy. The benefits of the recent federal tax cuts appear to...
Missouri Public Teachers, Take Note: Union Membership Is Optional
It’s back to school time, and new teachers have a little homework to do before the start of the school...
So Glad You Could Join Us . . .
It’s hard to see the chalkboard from the back of the class. When you’re not even in the room, it’s...
Not Bronze, or Silver, or Gold, or Platinum-Just Affordable
Paying crippling premiums for health insurance? There may be a solution. On August 1, the departments of Health and Human...
Film Tax Credits: Facts and Fiction
Over the weekend, the St. Louis Post Dispatch published a piece about yet another Missouri-based television program that is being...
Who’s to Blame for Stagnant Teacher Salaries?
Last spring, in what has been referred to as a “smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em” moment, teachers in four...
Want More Great Teachers? Then Pay Great Teachers More
The Kansas City Star has been running a series on public policy called the “Missouri Influencer Series.” The series highlights...
How and Why Prop A Will Boost Jobs and Growth
Outside of Missouri, the most closely watched contest in the Aug. 7 elections here will not be any of the...
If Business Owners Want a More Skilled Workforce, They Shouldn’t Forget about Charter Schools
Last week in Columbia, business and education stakeholders expressed their concerns over the preparedness of Missouri’s future workers. As part...
Teachers’ Union Recruitment Thrives on Fear
As a 19-year old college student studying to be an elementary school teacher, I was given a heavy dose of...
How Well Are Missouri Cities Run?
Not so well, according to the personal finance website WalletHub in their “2018’s Best- & Worst-Run Cities in America” article....
Wisconsin’s Foxconn Deal is Bad Public Policy
President Trump is heralding the news that a Taiwanese high-tech manufacturer is building a factory in Wisconsin. For him, it...
Right to Work Commentary Misses the Point
A recent op-ed in the Columbia Missourian calls Right to Work “an attack on our entire community.” If Missouri passes...
Could This Be a Win for Parents?
The debates have only just begun, and they’re sure to be loud and contentious. But one result of the confirmation...
Who Do These Florida Parents Think They Are?
Florida parents are just fancy people who think their kids are special and need a customized education that’s tailored to...
Who Runs the KCPD?
Mayors in Kansas City long have complained about a lack of control over the police department. But the truth is...
Missouri’s Economy Struggles Despite a Low Unemployment Rate
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released some good news about the employment numbers from May: Fourteen states saw their...
Millennials *Still* Prefer the Kansas City Suburbs
For years, census data demonstrated that people are eschewing urban settings for the suburbs. Then, for a while, some urbanist...
Kansas City Airport Stumbles Along
One year ago, Steve Vockrodt of The Kansas City Star wrote an excellent piece on the “original sin” of the...
