Fourth-grade reading scores. CREDIT: The 74/NCES

Student achievement on the decline

This week, test results revealed a sobering look at student achievement in the United States. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a nationwide test administered to measure students' academic performance in the United States. It's often called the "Nation's Report Card" because it provides a snapshot of how well students perform in key subjects, such as reading, math, science, and writing, across the country.

Some southern states had a few bright spots due to coherent reform efforts. Alabama 4th graders exceeded their pre-pandemic achievement levels. Louisiana led the country in reading progress, and Mississippi fourth graders ranked No. 1 for score improvements in reading and math since 2013.

Still, despite significant funding and evidence-based practices, scores have continued to decline, especially among poor-performing student populations. On a panel discussion presented by Bellwether, Denise Forte of Education Trust said, "We're seeing that schools across the country supported just 16 percent of black fourth graders and 20 percent of Latino fourth graders to score at or above proficient."

While many in the education world had hoped for a post-pandemic reading recovery, experts now wonder if chronic absenteeism and screen time may be to blame.

How did Kansas and Missouri fare?

Kansas scores were also statistically aligned with the national average, with 59 percent of the state's fourth graders scoring at or above basic. However, only 29 percent of Black and 46 percent of Hispanic students were above the basic level.

Missouri scores were statistically aligned with the national average, with 58 percent of the state's fourth graders scoring at or above basic. However, only 36 percent of Black and 46 percent of Hispanic students were above the basic level.

Here are the snapshots of 4th-grade reading scores in Kansas and Missouri.

See all the data here.

"The news is not good," said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees the assessment. "We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic."

Aligned's Take: States need to continue to invest in early childhood programs centered on numeracy and literacy, strengthen communication with parents about state results and their implications, and increase transparency around state assessment cut scores and reporting practices.

Governor Mike Kehoe gives State of the State Address to packed House chamber.

Missouri News

Governor wants to rewrite the state education funding formula

During this week's State of the State address (SOTS), Governor Mike Kehoe highlighted the need to update Missouri's Foundation Formula, acknowledging that the current system no longer meets the State's evolving educational needs.

As Governor Kehoe stated, "The Foundation Formula in its current form has gotten out of control," clarifying that reform is essential to incentivize performance and manage funding adjustments more effectively.

Aligned has prioritized school finance reform for the past three years. In 2023, we drafted an issue brief explaining why the State should update the formula to measure poverty more precisely.

We are grateful for the Governor's leadership on this much-needed reform and stand ready to assist in any way needed to ensure that this task force makes the necessary changes to better serve Missouri’s students.

We provide more details on his SOTS address and priorities below.

House committees hear open enrollment and childcare tax credit bills

This week, the House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education heard HB 711 (Pollitt), a bill that allows interdistrict transfers in the public school system, otherwise known as open enrollment. 

In his open remarks to the committee, Pollitt said, "Should your home address be the main determination in what public school district your children attend? Should the child and family be the center of the educational focus? I believe it should." 

There are currently 43 states have some form of open enrollment. HB 711 is a voluntary opt-in policy and caps transfers at 3%. The state money follows the student and the local funding stays in the home district.

Pollitt filed an open enrollment bill in the past four legislative sessions. In 2024, his bill passed out of the House by a vote of 86-73.

Aligned, Yes Every Kid, Excel in Ed, and the Century Foundation testified in support. The Missouri NEA, Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City, ArmorVine, Missouri State Teachers Association, Kansas City Public School District, North Kansas City School District, and American Federation of Teachers testified against the bill. St. Louis Language Immersion Academy and the Missouri Charter Public School Association testified for informational purposes encouraging the committee to include charter schools in the eligibility for nonresident student transfer.

Aligned's take: We will work with lawmakers to add provisions that allow charter school participation and allocate funding for transportation. 

Childcare tax credits

Also this week, the House Committee on Economic Development heard HB 269 (Shields) establishing the "Childcare Contribution Tax Credit Act". This bill creates three tax credit programs to incentivize investment in childcare programs and provide tax relief for providers.

During the hearing, Representative Brenda Shields explained that this legislation will help address the state's lack of childcare supply in our rural communities. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce testified that this bill is their organization's top legislative priority as the state has lost $1.3 billion annually in lost wages and revenue over the last three years. 

Aligned, Campaign Life Missouri, Kids Win Missouri, United WE, City of Kansas City, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Civic Council of Kansas City, Missouri Economic Development Council, City of Raymore, Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greater St. Louis Inc., Next Missouri, a private business owner, BJC Health, National Association of Social Workers, Jewish Federation of St. Louis, Missouri Hospital Association, Cox Health, JE Dunn Construction, Missouri State Alliance of YMCAs, Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Missouri Catholic Conference all testified in support.

There was no opposition.

Eslinger returns to the Senate for a frank DESE discussion

Karla Eslinger, former State Senator and current Commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), returned to the Senate Lounge this week to update her former colleagues on the department's current challenges.

Her presentation provided an overview of how the department works, the need to update the state’s 20-year-old school funding formula, and the challenges facing schools for severely disabled students. She also updated committee members on the status of the childcare subsidy payment backlog, which strained the state’s provider network for much of 2024.

“The calculator in the system is fixed,” Eslinger said, explaining that the calculator determines how much subsidy reimbursement each provider receives for their services. DESE launched a new subsidy payment system in December 2024. 

Eslinger attributed the issue to insufficient front-end training, which resulted in “messy data” that prevented many providers from receiving their payments last year. With 75% of the backlog resolved, she believes the Office of Childhood will have all outstanding payments cleared by February.

In addition to a fully functional childcare subsidy system, she said providers would benefit from switching to a reimbursement policy based on enrollment rather than attendance.

Nice recap from the Missouri Independent here.

Read the weekly legislative report.

Budget and Revenue

In Governor Mike Kehoe's first state-of-the-state address this week, he outlined his legislative priorities and components of his $52.8 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which starts July 1st.

His speech focused on ways to create more childcare for Missouri families. His proposed solutions include rewriting childcare regulations, grants for childcare innovation, and a shift to enrollment-based childcare subsidy payments. 

Highlights of his budget for education include:

• $200 million increase to the Education Foundation Formula
• $376 million to fully fund the state's share of the transportation funding, including $15 million in new funding
• $50 million in new funding for the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program
• $33.4 million for teacher baseline salary grants to ensure school districts pay the minimum teacher salary
• $1.8 million the establishment of a statewide longitudinal data system
• $10 million for childcare innovation grants
• $3.3 million to develop a new Foundation Formula calculation system, including the signing of Executive Order 25-14 establishing the School Funding Modernization Task Force to recommend changes to the Foundation Formula to better serve students and families.

He also signed three executive orders to address childcare, education and workforce development:

Executive Order 14 – Establishing the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force to develop recommendations for potential state funding models for K-12 education.

Executive Order 15 – Directing the Office of Childhood within the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to improve the state regulatory environment for child care facilities and homes.

Executive Order 16 – Establishing the Governor’s Workforce of the Future Challenge for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, with the Missouri Department of Education and Workforce Development, to improve existing career and technical education delivery systems. 

A summary of Gov. Kehoe's budget and legislative priorities can be viewed here.

Gov. Kehoe's full FY26 Executive Budget Proposal can be viewed here.

In other news

• Commissioner of ed says childcare subsidy backlog will be resolved next month 
• Federal budget cuts may target school nutrition programs for kids
• Missouri Governor calls open enrollment bill a 'top priority' for first year
• Sluggish lottery sales drives supplemental request over $2 billion
• State has 'real issue' serving children with disabilities according to commissioner
• St. Louis University study seeks to count homeschool families in Missouri

Aligned's Eric Syverson discussed the proposed state longitudinal data system with lawmakers in Topeka this week.

Kansas News

Building support for a Statewide Longitudinal Data System

Aligned has been actively engaging lawmakers on the benefits of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS)—a secure data system that connects education, workforce, and other key data to provide insights that help students, educators, employers, and policymakers make informed decisions.

By linking data across K-12, higher education, and the workforce, an SLDS allows Kansas to better understand how students move through the education system and into careers, helping to align policy decisions with the state’s long-term economic needs. 

SLDSs are already in place in 42 states, providing a roadmap for how Kansas can modernize its education and workforce data systems.

States with well-functioning SLDSs have used them to provide useful insights: 

• Indiana uses its SLDS to connect education and workforce data to identify gaps between workforce demand and degree production. 

• Kentucky’s SLDS identifies workforce shortages and assesses how well education and training programs align with employer demand.  

• Texas links K-12, higher education, and workforce data to provide real-time insights on regional job demand. 

SLDSs provide policymakers with data-driven insights to shape effective education and workforce policies, help families and students make informed decisions about educational and career pathways, and equip educators with the tools to improve student outcomes and align instruction with future workforce needs. 

Beyond education and workforce alignment, SLDSs can also inform policy decisions in areas such as economic development, social services, and criminal justice by identifying trends in employment outcomes, assessing the impact of early childhood programs, and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions that support at-risk populations. 

This week, Aligned hosted a Lunch and Learn at the Capitol, providing an overview of SLDSs and previewing our forthcoming SLDS bill, developed in partnership with Representative Jason Goetz, Chair of the K-12 Education Budget Committee. Thank you to all who attended!  

We also delivered informational testimony to a joint House and Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Monday, answering lawmakers’ questions and gathering feedback on how to refine the legislation. 

Aligned’s Take: Aligned remains committed to working with policymakers to ensure Kansas adopts an SLDS that drives smarter investments in education and workforce development, improves student outcomes, and strengthens the state’s economy for years to come. 

Kansas Lawmakers Introduce School Choice Legislation 

As hundreds of parents and students gathered in Topeka for National School Choice Week, lawmakers introduced two bills aimed at expanding private school choice options in Kansas: SB 75 and SB 87. While both proposals use tax credits to support private education, they take distinct approaches in how families access funding and how tax dollars are allocated. 

SB 75 

Unlike traditional private school choice programs—such as vouchers or education savings accounts (ESAs)—this proposal takes a different approach: a tax credit to help offset private school tuition costs. 

Here's how it works: 

• Taxpayers would receive a refundable tax credit of $8,000 per child enrolled in an accredited private school or $4,000 per child in a nonaccredited school. The total annual tax credit allocation is capped at $125 million, but if 90% of available credits are claimed, the cap would automatically increase by 25% in the following year. 

• Unlike vouchers or ESAs, this credit would be claimed when filing taxes, meaning families would receive financial relief after paying tuition rather than upfront. If enacted, Kansas would join 12 other states with a universal private school choice program. Many states with similar policies limit eligibility based on income or phase out funding for higher-income families—this proposal does not. 

SB 87 

SB 87 expands the Tax Credit for Low-Income Students Scholarship Program, which provides private school scholarships through donations to scholarship-granting organizations. The bill removes the requirement that students must have previously attended a public school, making scholarships accessible to a broader range of students, including those in foster care, military families, and children of first responders. 

Key provisions of the bill include: 

• The maximum scholarship amount increases to $8,000 per student per year, covering tuition, fees, and transportation costs. 
• The tax credit for donors increases to 100% of contributions, up from the current 75%. 
• The total statewide tax credit cap starts at $10 million but could increase to $20 million based on participation levels. 

This type of school choice policy is known as a tax-credit scholarship—Kansas is one of 21 states with an active program. 

The Debate 

Supporters argue these bills expand educational opportunities for families by making private education more financially accessible. They say tax-credit incentives empower parents with more options while fostering competition that could drive improvements in both public and private schools. 

Critics warn that these programs could divert resources from public schools, as declining enrollment impacts state funding. Additionally, they argue that even with tax credits, many families may still struggle to cover the full cost of private school tuition, limiting access for lower-income students. 

As the debate unfolds, SB 75 and SB 87 will remain central to education policy discussions in Kansas. Aligned will continue tracking both bills and providing updates as they move through the legislature

Read the legislative report.

Aligned is excited to announce that Dallas Purkeypile, President and CEO of AdventHealth South Overland Park, has joined the Aligned Board of Directors.

Dallas brings tremendous leadership experience, a passion for healthcare, and a commitment to community service to his new role with Aligned.

Dallas has been a key leader in the healthcare field since 2008, with a career that began as an Emergency Department nurse leader. He led Kansas’ first freestanding Emergency Department at AdventHealth Prairie Star and later served as Director of Operations and Executive Director of Operations for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. In 2020, Dallas became President and CEO of AdventHealth Ottawa, where he also contributed to local initiatives as a board member of the Franklin County Development Council and United Way.

Under his leadership,  AdventHealth South Overland Park was named a Top General Hospital by the Leapfrog Group in 2023, a testament to his focus on providing high-quality, safe patient care. Dallas holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Union Adventist University and an MBA from MidAmerica Nazarene University. He also graduated from AdventHealth’s inaugural Executive Leadership Program.

Upcoming Events at Aligned

Earn a Georgetown University Certificate in Finance

Join us in June as Aligned and Georgetown University present the Edumonics Certificate in Education Finance course in Kansas City.

You will learn about:

• Cost drivers in education
• Allocation and accountability structures
• Instruction delivery model implications
• ESSA and state policy effects in a local context
• Productivity analyses

Participants earn 3.0 CEUs, 36 CPEs, and/or 30 professional development credits upon successful program completion.

Register to attend the in-person event.

Download our brochure for sponsorship opportunities.

We are grateful to our event sponsors for their support:

• Venue Sponsor - Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
• Platinum Sponsor - Missouri Charter School Association
• Gold Sponsors - U.S Engineering and Holland 1916 Inc.
• Bronze Sponsors - JE Dunn Construction and KIDaccount

This week felt like a month. We are moving fast and furious.

Thanks for your engagement!

Torree Pederson

President

Aligned

Torree@WeAreAligned.org

(913) 484-4202

Linda Rallo

Vice President

Aligned

Linda@WeAreAligned.org

(314) 330-8442

About Aligned

Aligned is the only state-wide non-profit, nonpartisan business group working in Kansas and Missouri on educational issues impacting the full development of our children, from supporting high-quality early learning to solid secondary programs that provide rigorous academic programs and real-world learning opportunities.

Our vision is that our public education systems in Kansas and Missouri have the resources and flexibility to prepare students to pursue the future of their choice.

We are currently focused on education policies that will strengthen early childhood education, teacher recruitment and retention, and school finance reform.

Learn more about our work.