Rural kids deserve the same shot as anyone else
I’m Fighting for Public Schools.
We need to elect legislators who will stand up for rural Missourians and working families, not ones who turn their backs on the very communities they were chosen to represent.
Because that’s exactly what we’re seeing right now.
In real time, donor influence (like that of the Herzog Foundation) is carrying more weight than the voices of the people in our rural communities who elected these legislators in the first place.
We cannot continue taking public dollars and handing them to private schools. Public funds should go to public schools. Full stop.
Right now, superintendents across my district and others are facing a harsh reality. They won’t be able to start the next school year with the same staff or resources. When budgets are cut, staffing is the first to go.
We are losing jobs. Our kids are losing their teachers. And our rural communities are being left behind.
This report isn’t just data. It’s a warning.
It calls on policymakers, educators, and communities to take a hard look at what’s happening in their own backyards—and to act before it’s too late.
Spoiler alert: Missouri schools are in danger.
And if we don’t start paying attention, investing in public education, and standing up for rural communities… we’re going to lose something we can’t afford to replace.