Missouri

Missouri superintendents react to upcoming changes in state education

Published

1 year ago

January 29, 2025

Missouri superintendents react to upcoming changes in state education

MISSOURI (WGEM) – Superintendents in Missouri reacted to education legislation that went into effect earlier this month.

Senate Bill 727 introduced 21 different provisions to The Show-Me State’s education landscape. One of them is a raise in the minimum salary for teachers.

Currently, the minimum pay is $25,000 a year. Starting this fall, that will increase to $40,000 for educators. The number is higher for those with a master’s degree and at least ten years of teaching experience. Their base salary will become $46,000.

It is part of an effort to increase teacher satisfaction and retention. Ralls County R-II Superintendent David Koogler explained his district already pays teachers a base of $41,000, but higher salaries alone may not be enough to keep some educators around.

“That in itself is not enough to draw teachers in. They want to make sure that the administration has their back, they want to make sure that the community supports them, that they are respected, that they’re not going to get challenged at every little thing,” Koogler said. “But definitely, increasing pay is a good first step.”

Superintendent Susan Johnson of Hannibal Public Schools (HPS) shared a similar sentiment.

“Is it enough? I mean, I certainly hope it is. It’s certainly moving in the right direction. So, I think that’s a great thing,” Johnson said. HPS’ current base pay for teachers is $40,400.

SB 727 requires all school districts in Missouri to achieve the raise in minimum teacher salary. If unable, they could face cuts to funding.

Koogler said that is a point of worry.

“I am very concerned about that,” Koogler said. “Basically, it sends the message that if you’re too poor to afford these salary increases, you’re really going to be poor.”

School districts can utilize the newly created Teacher Baseline Salary Grant Fund to help pay those salaries. It is essentially a pool of funds appropriated by the General Assembly that districts can dip into if needed. The language of SB 727 reads the General Assembly, “may” appropriate money to the fund. That word spelled some concern for Johnson.

Base teacher salaries starting in the 2028-29 school year and all subsequent school years are required to be adjusted annually by the percentage increase in inflation. Koogler noted it may be difficult for some districts to cut expenditures to pay higher salaries down the line.

Also created in SB 727 is the Elementary Literacy Fund. It provides matching grants to schools in order to send books to K-5 students. Six to nine books can be sent to any individual student. Grants cannot exceed $60 per student, per semester.

Johnson praised this aspect of the bill.

“I think that’s a great thing. Anytime we can get books and literature in a student’s hand, that’s wonderful,” Johnson said.

There is also more incentive for a five-day school week wrapped into the legislation.

Districts with a five-day school week will receive additional funds. They will get a kickback of 1% of their state aid to go toward teacher salaries in 2026-27, and 2% of that in the following years.

As another part of SB 727, the non-emergency phone number for the local police department will be added to the ID cards of students in grades 7-12. That starts July. The ID cards may also include a suicide hotline number.

Koogler referred to poor student mental health as, “a pandemic that needs to come to an end.”

He said he has noticed a decline in students’ well-being since a couple years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

More information on SB 727 can be found here.

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Missouri

Missouri Farm Bureau to host agritourism conference in Hermann | Fulton Sun

Published

8 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Missouri Farm Bureau to host agritourism conference in Hermann | Fulton Sun

Missouri Farm Bureau’s 2026 Agritourism Conference will be held Sunday through Tuesday in Hermann, bringing together agritourism stakeholders to explore opportunities in Missouri’s growing agritourism sector.

The conference usually draws 60-70 attendees annually, said Janet Adkison, director of public affairs and advocacy with Missouri Farm Bureau. This includes farmers, agribusiness leaders, tourism professionals and local economic development partners.

At the conference, participants will see firsthand how farms, wineries, orchards and other value-added agriculture business and rural destinations are connecting tourists and consumers with the state’s agriculture scene, while diversifying revenue streams for farm families and rural communities.

“Whenever folks think of agritourism, they think of a pumpkin patch or a flower farm,” Adkison said. “But agritourism is really anything that gets folks to connect with the agriculture industry. So from your Airbnbs that are out in rural Missouri to the wineries that you see across the countryside, to even a tree farm or just a simple orchard, those are all part of Missouri’s agritourism industry.”

The conference kicks off Sunday with welcome remarks by Missouri Farm Bureau president Garrett Hawkins and a dinner at Hermann Farm Store Barn. Participants will spend the nights at The Inn at Hermannhof.

Monday will include an agritourism bus tour, with stops at Thierbach Orchard, Heritage Valley Tree Farm, White Mule Winery & BNB and Cool Cow Cheese, where participants have the opportunity to speak to business owners.

It will be followed by a farm-to-table, wine-pairing dinner at Hermannhof Winery Court with the Missouri Wine & Grape Board.

“If you are somebody who’s interested in agritourism, you get to hear from somebody who’s been there and done that, and some of the hurdles that they may have experienced along the way,” Adkison said. “You’ll have that exposure both on the tour and also during the programs that they’ll provide on Tuesday.”

On the final day of the conference, participants will attend educational workshops and network with other vendors at Hermannhof Festhalle. Topics discussed in the workshops include marketing, risk management, USDA Rural Development resources for agricultural businesses.

“You’ll hear from some folks as far as the missteps or wins that they had while trying to market and get those crowds to come to the farm, and sometimes something might work, (or) something surprises you and it doesn’t work,” Adkison said.

The conference location rotates around the state each year — past stops have included northeast and west central Missouri, which Adkison said gives the conference a chance to showcase how agritourism looks based on the terrain and agricultural strength of each region.

Find out more about the event or register for it at mofb.org/event/2026-agritourism.

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Missouri

Missouri politicians champion unity, diversity on America’s 250th

Published

18 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Press Room

Missouri politicians champion unity, diversity on America’s 250th

Former Missouri Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon followed in his ancestor’s footsteps, 250 years to the day.

On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon was the first person to publicly read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.

Jay Nixon, along with other Missouri officials from local, state and national offices, participated in a semiquincentennial celebration at the Historical Greene County Courthouse on July 8, 2026.

“As we commemorate 250 years of American independence, may we remember not only the courage of those who signed the declaration, but also our responsibility to preserve the freedoms they declare,” said Connie Yen, director of the Greene County Archives and Records Center.

While the reading of the Declaration of Independence was the main event, patriotic music from the Salvation Army Band, Springfield Sound, the Patriotic Chorale — as well as the national anthem sung by former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft and former judge and representative Max Bacon — rang throughout the courthouse’s rotunda, which was packed with people. The music itself, Ashcroft said, was a metaphor for the nation.

“There is something charming about America that doesn’t require that we be uniform. There’s a difference between unity and uniformity. As a matter of fact, you can’t have harmony if you only have one note. You have to sing different notes for things to be harmonic and it’s much more beautiful,” he said. “Maybe America is America not because of uniformity or everybody being in unison, but America may be America because we have disparity, but we’re in harmony. We believe in unity, not uniformity.”

Before reading the Declaration of Independence, Nixon shared part of a speech he gave at Fulton’s Westminster College in August 2025, where he encouraged people to “resist apathy with action” through involvement with civic and faith organizations, and by voting. Like others, he emphasized diversity as the strength of America.

“(We’re) a nation of immigrants. Many of our ancestors fled poverty, injustice and tyranny to build something better. We are the great-great-great-grandchildren of slaves, and those who enslaved them; the first families who inhabited these lands, and those who drove them from it,” Nixon said. “A nation of scrappy strivers stitched together by our ideals, marked by original sins, but redeemed by the courage and sacrifice that saved us from fascism and unleashed freedom and prosperity — the envy of the world. That is the true story we all need to tell, the promise we made to each other that we work every day to keep.”

The reading was followed by an ice cream social, co-hosted by the Greene County Democratic and Republican women’s clubs.

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Missouri

UPDATE: Suspect wanted in Kansas captured near Columbia; Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft plays key role | 93.9 The Eagle

Published

1 day ago

July 8, 2026

Press Room

UPDATE: Suspect wanted in Kansas captured near Columbia; Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft plays key role | 93.9 The Eagle

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says one of its planes played a key role in Tuesday morning’s capture on I-70 near Columbia of a Kansas suspect wanted for child endangerment.

Missouri state troopers say they were on patrol near a rest area on eastbound I-70 in Cooper County, when they located a Dodge Durango wanted for an alleged incident in Topeka. Troopers say the suspect drove off after seeing troopers and that the Patrol plane was used to avoid a pursuit.

Troopers say they were able to get in position after the plane’s pilot located the vehicle and that the Patrol deployed stop sticks and safely deflated the suspect’s tires.

hmqqi61wwaa0bs7 — A Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft played a key role in Tuesday morning’s capture in mid-Missouri (July 2026 graphic courtesy of Highway Patrol Twitter)

The Highway Patrol says the suspect was captured without incident and that the two-year-old child, who was unharmed, has been reunited with their mother.

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