UPDATES ON EDUCATION RESEARCH AND POLICY
NEW POSTS WEEKLY!
We want to help lawmakers, educators, and families make decisions about education by providing updates on national, regional and Missouri-specific research. While we strive to be objective, we want to facilitate discussion and will occasionally offer our own views on this blog.
Charter Schools: Public Opinion in Missouri
Missouri is home to 37 Charter Local Education Agencies (LEAs)—20 in Kansas City and 17 in St. Louis. In 2024, Missouri charter schools educated around 25,000 students. Charter schools are public schools, free from tuition and fees, that operate in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas of Missouri. Charter schools are sponsored or “authorized” not by the state, but rather by an entity that grants a charter and provides accountability. There are currently seven charter school sponsors in Missouri—Saint Louis University is one of them. More information about Missouri charter schools can be found at https://dese.mo.gov/quality-schools/charter-schools.