Proposals include making school board elections partisan and posting the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
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 inState Government
Cellphones, cursive and teacher pay: A round up of Missouri teaching and learning bills in 2025
Lawmakers across the aisle want to curtail students’ use of electronic devices in class.
Posted inState Government
Private school, charters, home schooling and open enrollment: Missouri bills to watch in 2025
Some Missouri lawmakers want to give families more options beyond their traditional local public schools.
Posted inEducation
Scholarships, degrees and hazing: Missouri higher education bills to watch in 2025
Lawmakers have proposed changes to scholarships, in-state tuition and transfer credits, but they face a long road before potentially becoming law.
Posted inEducation
Park University drops its push to de-annex property from Kansas City — for now
Park University has postponed its request to transfer 80 acres of Kansas City to Parkville, but hopes it can move forward in the future.
Posted inEducation
Why Park University wants 80 acres of Kansas City to transfer to Parkville
The university says the move would improve efficiency, streamline operations and allow for future development. But Kansas City’s approval is uncertain.
Posted inEducation
Hickman Mills schools meet its performance goal, but Missouri moved the goalposts
The district scored higher than 70% on its state performance report, but Missouri wants more data before it changes accreditation.
Posted inEducation
What Kansas City Public Schools will do if voters pass the district’s first bond in 58 years
The $474 million plan includes adding a new middle school in the former Southwest High School building and moving career and technical education programs into Central High School.
Posted inEducation
Kansas City Public Schools reports more kids in classrooms — for the third year in a row
Growth in the Northeast and among English language learners is driving the increase.
Posted inEducation
An Independence school is retooling an auditorium to take the load from overflowing classrooms
Fairmount Elementary School in Independence tore the shelves out of a storage closet, installed a smart television and a whiteboard — and started using the space for teaching. With enrollment booming, every room counts. “There is literally not a single space that is not being utilized,” Principal Nicholas Younts said. The school can’t squeeze an […]