While the Missouri Legislature continues to debate A–F school report cards, the Show-Me Institute recently released our annual report card update on MOSchoolRankings.org.

Our rankings are built on a model that incorporates 10 academic indicators of student success. All data are sourced from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and all English/language arts (ELA) and math scores are based on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP). Each component is weighted equally, and a full explanation of the methodology is available online.

Table 1 shows all 24 public school districts and charter schools that received an “A” in the 2024–2025 school year.

Suburban and rural districts dominate the top rankings, with numerous districts from St. Louis County (Ladue, Brentwood, Clayton). Many of the rural school districts are exceptionally small: Skyline has 81 students and Thornfield has 48. The largest school district on the list is Nixa Public Schools (near Springfield) with 6,518 students.

The suburban districts have relatively low rates of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL)—a common proxy for school poverty rate. Fewer than 10 percent of Ladue and Clayton students were eligible for FRPL, with Brentwood at 18 percent, Nixa at 26 percent, Festus at 28 percent, and Ozark at 35 percent. However, some rural “A” districts have a sizeable number of lower-income students.

Mansfield R-IV, which had 60 percent of its 622 students qualify for FRPL, performed above average in almost every single category (except in ELA growth). Richwoods R-VII, a small rural district about an hour from St. Louis, had 100 percent of its 125 students qualify for FRPL and had particularly impressive scores in math. These examples demonstrate that low-income schools can achieve academic success.

There is a lot more to delve into for academic performance. Table 1 is just one snapshot of what is available on MOSchoolRankings.org. Accountability tools like these can help highlight success stories, identify areas for improvement, and provide a clearer picture of how schools across Missouri are performing.

The post Looking at Missouri’s “A” Districts appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The new city motto should be: “Tax subsidies in Creve Coeur, just there for the asking.”

Honestly, the idea that the old Monsanto and Bayer site at Olive and Lindbergh needs tax subsidies is beyond ludicrous. The fact that the local officials in Creve Coeur seem to be enthusiastically supporting this instead of laughing the proposal out of the council chambers shows—once again—how far we have fallen from the idea of a level playing field for everyone.

Let’s state a few facts. Keep in mind the proposed development has both residential and commercial components.

This particular area has comparatively low taxes as it is. The Ladue School District has the lowest commercial property tax rate in St. Louis County and one of the lowest residential tax rates (go to page 2 in the 2023 tax book in the link for the data).

The Ladue School District is also one of the top school districts in the state. People want to buy homes or condos or rent apartments there.

The property is not some abandoned, vacant lot. The current owners are paying property taxes now. The idea that Creve Coeur is desperate here—that if they don’t approve this subsidy request some financial disaster will occur—is absurd

Here is the most important part: there is absolutely no evidence that the use of local tax subsidies helps economic growth. None at all. The short-term incentives of part-time politicians looking to “do something” while in office cause a great deal of harm.

If a parcel at the corner of Olive and Lindbergh in Creve Coeur needs tax subsidies (hint—it doesn’t), then any and every spot in our state needs tax subsidies.

Creve Coeur government officials should focus on creating a reasonable zoning and permitting process, modest local regulations where necessary, and maintaining as low a property tax rate as possible. That is all the developer of this location needs or deserves. The fact that local officials appear to be racing to give away the store is equal parts stupid and infuriating.

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Jones is part of a student transfer program that was created when the Normandy schools were so low performing that an emergency exit was created that allowed students to enroll in other districts. Now, the “system” that the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) uses to rate the performance of school districts has somehow declared that Normandy, a district in which just three percent of 7^th graders were proficient in math last year, is good enough. The transfer program is over, and the exit has been closed.

But let’s look at the bigger picture. Parents (and I can’t believe how often I have to say this) want to have choices when it comes to their child’s education. Of course parents in one of the lowest-performing districts in the state jumped at the chance to leave when it was offered. But guess who else chooses something other than their neighborhood school? Parents of bullied students, parents of students who are assigned to a big school but would do better in a small school, parents of students who want or need a particular curriculum such as fine arts or the classics and parents of students with disabilities who find a program that connects to their child’s needs. This list could go on and on.

So now the media is highlighting the tragedy of Tyler Ratlif Woods, who was on the path to college. Woods just found that he will not be attending high school in Ladue, where he went to elementary and middle schools. Instead he must return to his low-performing and potentially dangerous neighborhood high school in Normandy. One article quotes a transfer student’s father, Paul Davis, who called the transfer program a “gift from God.”

These stories are upsetting. It seems unfair. Forcing these children to return to their crumbling district isn’t going to help that district much, but it is going to hurt those children. In this case it’s obvious. But let’s not forget the less obvious—school-aged children are not the property of a school district by virtue of their address. They are individuals with individual needs who should have options when it comes to their education.

The post Getting Sent Back to School appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Right now, residents of the Ladue school district pay 39 cents per $100 of assessed value of their property to service the existing debt of the school district.  The April 5 ballot measure would double that, to 78 cents per $100 of assessed value.

According to Zillow, the median home price in Ladue is $814,000. Because Missouri assesses home value at 19% of market value, the proposed tax increase is a $603.17 hike per year for the median home owner. Half of homeowners will pay more than that.

Ladue is a lovely place for a variety of reasons, but one thing that makes it so attractive to residents is that it takes advantage of the high value of its property by charging a relatively low rate of property tax. As my colleague James Shuls pointed out in talking about the proposed levy increase in St. Louis, Ladue’s levy is well below the St. Louis County average, but it is still able to generate a lot of money for its schools.  It’s an ideal situation.

Ladue should think long and hard before mitigating its competitive advantage over neighboring municipalities. Are there other efficiencies that it can find? Could it take on less debt, or wait until it has paid off what it has already incurred?  Is it buying new bells and whistles that aren’t associated with better student learning? The answers to these questions would tell voters whether they are getting additional value for their money.

The post Should Ladue Take on $85 Million in Debt? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The tax increase is needed, according to supporters, in order to (among other things) pay for the operations of a new building the district purchased in 2010. The school district says their projections on revenue were off, but it is not their fault:

“It was so unprecedented. At that point and time, it was hard to imagine that kind of downturn,” said Susan Dielmann, district spokeswoman.

That statement is referring to a choice made in late 2009/early 2010, and it is just crazy. By that time, it was apparent to many people that we were in for a long and difficult economic recovery, and the idea “everybody just assumed the economy would be terrific by 2011” is preposterous. From USA Today in late 2008 (emphasis added):

Others are gloomier. They expect continued job losses and depressed consumer and business spending throughout the year because of tight credit conditions. The resulting damage to the consumer and business psyche will change the very nature of the economy for years to come.

Many families within the Ladue School District send their children to private schools. So, it should hardly surprise people that many taxpayers within the district who do not, will not, or never did use the public schools are opposed to a dramatic tax increase to pay for something the district probably should not have bought in the first place.

On the other hand, someone once did a study demonstrating that high MAP scores have a positive effect on property values within the Ladue School District, so there is no denying that if the tax increase is necessary to maintain the quality of the schools that the taxpayers will recover a portion of those taxes via property values and sale value. However, it is hardly obvious that the new tax dollars are required to maintain the high district rankings and educational quality. Supporters of the proposal obviously think it is, and opponents think it is not. I do not live in the Ladue School District so I cannot say, but the relationship between per-pupil expenditures and school achievement is far from exact. (Clayton and Ladue certainly spend a very high amount per student and are terrific schools, but there are plenty of counter-examples.) 

Even if the tax increase maintains or improves the school quality, some of that property value increase will be offset by lower values due to the higher taxes. That study also demonstrated the positive effects that low taxes can have on property values. I do not pretend to know how the exact relationship (MAP scores vs. tax rates) would work out going forward. The gains from education quality (if the higher taxes lead to that, which is far from certain) may outweigh the loss from higher taxes. But I do predict that, if this passes, more residents in the Ladue School District will appeal their property tax assessments to try to capture some of the real estate decline and offset the higher tax rate. That will limit the effectiveness of the tax increase.

Election day next week is going to be very interesting in the Ladue School District. I fail to see how a tax increase this substantial is going to benefit the people of the district. The 49 cents per $100 of assessed valuation comes out to an average property tax increase of $766 within the city of Ladue itself. (Hat tip to here for that number, though the rest of the piece is awful.) This is a lot of money to correct a mistake.

The post The Ladue Schools Proposed Tax Increase appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

As more people move into the Ladue district, class sizes go up and its schools have to scramble to find space. Some of that enrollment growth is inevitable, because Ladue has a good reputation. But the problem could be mitigated if students were able to choose schools in neighboring districts. Not every family that moves into Ladue does so for education; some choose a house in Ladue for other reasons, and would prefer a school that’s less crowded. Those people wouldn’t mind transferring their children to nearby districts. Other parents originally moved in for the district’s academics, but after class sizes reached a certain point, they no longer thought it was worthwhile to stay. They would also choose to transfer under open enrollment.

Under the current system, people with the preferences I just described can’t send their children to a different school unless they sell their houses and move. That’s a time-consuming process, and many would consider it a last resort in today’s real estate market. So, people stay put and keep their kids in the district, contributing to the crowding problem.

This is not to say that if Missouri institutes open enrollment, everyone would flee Ladue. Rather, some families that care about class sizes would send their children to other districts — perhaps just for a few years, while Ladue acquires more space. Open enrollment would act as a safety valve so that enrollment doesn’t increase faster than Ladue can open new classrooms.

The post Open Enrollment Could Ease Pressure on Districts appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Those people would probably prefer that the district divide up expenditures, improving each building a little bit at a time. But that’s not always practical. It can be more cost-effective to build a new structure than to continually patch up an old one. And seldom (if ever) does any district have the opportunity to build new schools for all students simultaneously.

Some children in Columbia Public Schools enjoy nicer buildings than others, and some districts have more expensive auditoriums and science labs than Columbia Public Schools. However, that’s not the main cause of educational inequity. Much more important than the appearance of buildings is what children learn inside of them. A school that looks drab on the outside may have excellent teachers and a great curriculum. On the other hand, a new building is no proof that classroom materials or teaching practices have been improved.

No matter how good your building is, you’ll always be able to find a school out there that’s physically superior in some way. (For example, although the Ladue School District has many new classrooms, it recently sent out a newsletter stating that various cafeteria and library spaces fall short of Missouri School Improvement Guidelines.) The quest for perfect buildings could be unending, but it would be better to pursue perfect academics instead.

The post Don’t Judge a School by Its Building appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, said he plans to file legislation that would clearly allow merit pay in Missouri schools.

The Ladue School District in St. Louis County has had performance pay for teachers for more than 50 years without legal challenge. The district assigns teachers points based on yearlong evaluations, then doles out raises accordingly.

The article discusses Ladue’s merit pay system and describes why teachers like the idea. It makes sense to pay teachers like the individual professionals that they are, not like interchangeable assembly-line workers.

The post Merit Pay for Teachers appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Parents enrolling their children in better performing districts may use the address of a relative or friend, a business, or even a blank lot. But when school administrators uncover the truth, students are forced back to their home districts, often with legal ramifications for their parents. “Sometimes they’ll beg you to stay. It can be heartbreaking,” says Vershaun Howze, Director of Enrollment for the Hazelwood School District.

The University City School District investigated 113 suspected larceny cases last year, and found 82 violations, while Hazelwood School District reported 92 infractions. And the Ladue School District has uncovered 11 violations this year alone — the same number as the entire 2006-2007 school year.

Parents shouldn’t have to resort to fraud in order to provide their children with decent educations. The rising trend in educational larceny demonstrates the need for significant school reform in Missouri and the steps parents will take to provide their children with decent educations. How much more evidence does the Legislature need?

The post Truancy in Reverse appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The Ladue School Board has decided to keep the district’s residential real estate tax rate at $2.75 for each $100 of assessed value. The rate is the same as last year. Board members said they could keep the same rate because of the district’s growing tax base and an increase in assessed value. The board approved the debt service rate at 23 cents for the third year.

Where should I begin? First of all, you have to like how they seem to be bragging about not raising the taxes on property owners in the district. Assessments in Ladue School District went up 21 percent during the past two years. As school districts are heavily dependent on local property taxes, that will lead to a 21 percent increase in their budget, from property taxes alone. Without any rollback, if you live within Ladue School District (which is much larger than just Ladue), you’ll see a 21 percent increase in your tax bill for the schools, but hey — at least they didn’t raise your tax rate!

I emphasized the part about the growing tax base because it is all the more reason to roll back the rates! Good for Ladue to have a growing tax base, but new construction is not even counted in the math for assessment increases. So Ladue schools will actually see an even larger increase in funding than 21 percent, but hey — at least they didn’t increase your tax rate!

The post Ladue School District Gets It Wrong On Assessments … appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Figlio and Kenny find that teacher salary incentives are associated with higher levels of student performance. They cannot be certain whether the test score improvement is driven by teacher incentives or whether the incentives are proxy variables for unobserved school quality. In general, they find, teacher salary incentives are associated with a 1.3 to 2.1 point rise in test scores, about the same increase associated with increasing maternal education by three years. The correlation exists in schools with predominantly low- and middle-income students.

Figlio and Kenny note that one case in which merit pay systems don’t work is when most of the teachers get merit pay. If everybody’s a winner, there’s no incentive to improve.

In Missouri, the Ladue School District has used merit pay for over 50 years. However, Ladue does suffer from the merit-pay-for-everyone problem. A report by Ladue’s Compensation Systems Task Force notes that 70 percent of the district’s staff received 12 or 13 out of 13 possible merit points for the 2004-2005 school year. Ladue should reconsider the way it awards points if it wants to encourage excellence in teaching.

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