When boards have brief discussions, vote in concert and communicate a unified message, it can create mistrust among members of the public who don’t get a window into board members’ reasoning as they make decisions.
Maria Benevento
Maria Benevento is The Beacon’s education reporter. She joined The Beacon as a Report for America corps member. In addition to her work at The Beacon, she’s reported for the National Catholic Reporter, Columbia Missourian and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Her education reporting began in 2017, and she became a full-time Kansas City education reporter with The Beacon in mid-2021. She graduated from Creighton University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in theology and American studies. In 2021, she graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a master's degree in journalism. She’s lived in Missouri most of her life and first moved to Kansas City in 2017.
Posted inEducation
Kansas City Public Schools working to ramp up parent input
Using federal COVID relief funds, the district hired a family liaison for each school. Among other duties, liaisons are responsible for recruiting at least two members of a parent organization this year, including one who can serve as the DAC delegate.
Posted inDIY Democracy, Education
How to get involved with a charter school board
Like traditional school districts, charter schools have different policies and procedures regarding transparency and the ease with which the public can access information.
Posted inEducation
After decades of court battles, is Kansas school funding functional?
Kansas’ K-12 school funding strategy has been shaped by lengthy court battles over whether the state provides enough money to adequately educate all students. The result is a system that takes into account school size and numbers of bilingual and “at-risk” students, among other factors, when distributing funds to schools. As a new school year […]
Posted inEducation
After decades of court battles, is Kansas school funding functional?
As a new school year gets underway, the state’s associations of school boards and superintendents say they’re largely satisfied with school funding in Kansas, though there are some concerns with funding for special education, transportation and schools with a high proportion of at-risk students.
Posted inEducation
The Missouri school funding formula undermines its own goals for equity, experts say
Adequacy means there’s enough funding for the school to meet certain goals. Equity acknowledges that some students or schools may require greater funding to meet those standards.
Posted inEducation
Are KC-area schools racially equitable? This group is keeping track
The demands include calls for districts to train teachers on anti-racism, examining their own racial identity and culturally responsive teaching; implement restorative practices; remove police and metal detectors; make libraries more diverse and hire at least 30% staff of color on all levels.
Posted inEducation
Transit agency’s silence on tax incentive projects frustrates KC Public Schools
During his last weeks with Kansas City Public Schools, then-Superintendent Mark Bedell pushed for the district to have more input into development projects from the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA). KCATA’s development arm, called RideKC Development Corp. (RKCDC), was founded in 2018 to bring “transit-oriented development” to Kansas City. Its mission is to develop […]
Posted inEducation
How to get involved with your local school board in 2023
Under open records laws in Missouri and Kansas, school districts must open their meetings to the public unless they’re discussing specific protected topics. But policies for accessing meeting recordings and signing up to make a public comment can vary from district to district or even year to year.
Posted inElections, Local Government, State Government
Live coverage: 2022 primary elections in Kansas City
On Tuesday, Aug. 2, Missouri and Kansas voters will vote in the 2022 primary election.