Conway, Mo., teen Brianna Rael switched to homeschooling so she could keep spending school days with her best friend, Carsen Smith, 14, who has osteosarcoma and travels to St. Louis for chemotherapy. Now Brianna brings her schoolwork to Carsen's house when Carsen is home, and the two stay connected through videos and messages during treatment. For families in the area, the story shows how homeschooling can keep a student close to a friend during a difficult time. To help with travel and missed-work costs, friends are holding a poker run and silent auction on Saturday, Nov. 7. Details are on the Carsen's Poker Run event page and the Carrying Carsen Facebook page.
Missouri is among at least 30 states where nearly all schoolchildren can apply for a new federal scholarship that can help pay for private school, homeschooling and other educational expenses. The Trump administration has proposed rules for the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, which launches Jan. 1, and the Treasury Department lists Missouri as participating for 2027. Taxpayers can donate up to
,700 to a scholarship organization and receive a federal tax credit for the same amount. Families earning up to three times the area's median income may qualify. The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed regulations.
More than 10,000 students, 10,235 in all, were funded through Missouri's MOScholars program for the 2026-2027 school year, according to State Treasurer Vivek Malek, with more than $68 million awarded. The program, created in 2021 by the Missouri General Assembly, uses tax credits for donations to organizations that give scholarships to families. Enrollment has grown from 1,361 students in 2022-2023, and the program received more than 16,000 applications. Funds can go toward private schools, homeschool education, interdistrict enrollment and special education services. State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, D-Columbia, has said public funds should be spent on public schools instead. Families interested in future applications and updates can sign up for the MOScholars newsletter.
Missouri's first performance report on the MOScholars voucher program, released Wednesday by the Missouri Treasurer's Office, found students scored near the national average in reading and math over the program's first three years. Researchers could validate test results for only 77% of students in testing grades, and the report lacked family income data that state law requires. The findings provide a baseline but do not show whether the program has improved academic outcomes. Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck said the report is incomplete and doesn't answer key questions. For families, the early numbers are encouraging, though the report does not cover 2025-26, when the program more than doubled in size.
Missouri's MOScholars program, which uses state tax dollars and tax-credit-incentivized donations to fund private school scholarships, has released its first public test scores. An Oct. 28 report from the PRiME Center at St. Louis University found that students scored slightly below the national average in math and slightly above in English by the program's third year. The authors call the data a baseline rather than proof of cause and effect, and 22% of students who should have tested did not submit a valid score. Opponents say the program diverts funding from public schools to schools not held to the same standards. Researchers expect to draw more conclusions as more students are tested.
A Cole County judge ruled Thursday that a 2024 law allowing charter schools in Boone County is not an unconstitutional "special law," rejecting Columbia Public Schools' challenge, which argued the law singles out one county. Judge Emily Fretwell wrote that lawmakers had reasonable grounds for the county-specific limit, pointing to its population, achievement gaps, share of college-educated adults and the University of Missouri-Columbia. The district has said it plans to appeal. Frontier Charter School has been approved to open in Boone County and plans to begin in Columbia next year, and a separate challenge to its approval is still ongoing. For Boone County families, the ruling keeps the expansion in place while the legal fights continue.
Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has given school districts a first look at new A-F grades based on 2024-25 data, though it would not confirm that release to ABC 17 News. Public release was moved from September to December so districts could review draft grades first. The grades stem from Executive Order 26-01, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe on Jan. 13, which aims to give families clear information on academic performance and student growth. Several education groups, including the Missouri State Teachers Association, have raised concerns about a single letter grade. The grades will not affect accreditation or funding, and they will not replace existing accountability systems or Annual Performance Reports.
Spotlight Missouri (via The 74) · Wed, Oct 7, 2026
A Spotlight Missouri feature, shared by The 74, profiles EDGE Microschool, a small program inside Liberty High School in Liberty, just north of Kansas City. Run by the traditional public district, EDGE enrolls 82 students in grades 9 through 12. Students take most of their classes there, using long, student-chosen projects and skills-based assessment, and take two classes at a comprehensive school. Unlike most microschools, which are typically private and often funded by vouchers or Education Savings Accounts, EDGE has the district's full support. The article notes that the model depends on a small, stable team of teachers with daily planning time, so it is not easy to copy. For Missouri families, it offers one public option for project-based, flexible high school learning.
Missouri teachers are frustrated, according to a Missouri State Teachers Association survey in which about 70% of respondents over the last three years considered leaving the profession, citing student behavior as their greatest stressor. At the same time, online learning is growing. Full-time enrollment in MOCAP virtual programs rose from about 3,000 students in 2021-2022 to more than 14,000 in 2024-2025, and PRiME Center researcher Collin Hitt estimates homeschooling has climbed to about 60,000 students from roughly 30,000 before the pandemic. Growth may be leveling off, and DESE does not track how many remote educators work in the state. For families, online and homeschool options are expanding, though how long that trend lasts is still unclear.
Missouri's largest charter school sponsor, the Missouri Charter Public School Commission, approved $685,000 in rebates to the schools it oversees at its August meeting. Individual schools will receive between
0,000 and $70,000, based on school size and performance, and administrators will decide how to spend the money. The commission also voted to put almost $95,000 into a grant program run by a third-party contractor. It is meant to fund ideas that foster better academic performance, but its details are not yet set. Executive Director Mark Modrcin said the commission's reserves are a planned safety net and that the rebates should go back to schools, which "could use those dollars better than we could."
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