Missouri’s State Board of Education will shutter 12 schools for the severely disabled by next school year, part of a plan to revamp the program and expand support for students with extensive needs.

SEMO student workers will see their pay rise to at least $13.75 an hour this August under a new Missouri law, with a further increase to $15 set for 2026, ending the university’s lower student wage.

Science is supposed to be fact-based and objective, but new research shows the way it's being used is definitely not. The Northwestern University study finds that partisan use of scientific data in policymaking has increased in the past 25 years, and confirms a widening gap between Democrats and Republicans.

After the second time appearing on the ballot—this time with a different funding structure, the City of Cape Girardeau water infrastructure issue passes.

Mental health experts say back-to-school season in Missouri is about more than supplies and schedules. With one in five young Missourians facing a diagnosable mental health disorder and serious struggles on the rise, advocates say it’s time to treat mental health like school prep.

Missouri advocates for families say the federal budget "megabill" could make it harder for them to put food on the table. The changes shift more of the administrative costs for SNAP, the federal program formerly known as food stamps, onto the state, and make it harder for some people to qualify for benefits.

On a single night in 2023, more than 6,700 people in Missouri didn’t have a place to call home - and that included hundreds of families and teens. Now, with the passage of the new federal budget, donations to homeless shelters are down, and even the helpers need help.

Illinois schools have already been grappling with a teacher shortage, budget deficits, and growing student needs. Experts say there was an anticipated budget shortfall of $280 million due to frozen federal K-12 funds, but administration officials say those funds are now unfrozen.

New Medicaid work rules are raising fears among many Missourians about losing health insurance. Under the new federal budget bill, adults on Medicaid expansion will have to prove 80 hours of work or volunteer time each month. However, health experts say Medicaid backlog is the real issue.

Drivers with zTrip’s IRIS microtransit program are suing, accusing the company of cheating them out of thousands in overtime. The federal class-action suit, filed in Kansas City, says drivers regularly worked more than 40 hours a week without time-and-a-half pay because zTrip wrongly treated them as independent contractors.