The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has released its annual "Facts about Missouri Schools."
Among the items in the report:
- Number of students attending public schools during the 2003-2004 school year, 893,270
-Number of students attending private schools, 95,230
-Average daily attendance- 94.1 percent
-Number of public school districts- 524
-Number of elementary schools- 1,263
-Number of middle schools- 289
-Number of junior high schools- 51
-Number of high schools- 572
-Number of charter schools- 25
-Current accreditation status of schools (Missouri School Improvement Plan)- Accredited 510, Provisionally Accredited 13; Unaccredited 1
-Graduation rate of public high schools- 85.1 percent
-Annual dropout rate, 3.9 percent
-Number of public high school graduates, 57,573
-Percentage of 2003 high school graduates entering college- 65.5
-Percentage of 2003 high school graduates entering technical school- 4 percent
-Number of teachers, K-12, 67,097
-National average classroom teacher's salary- $46,726
-Missouri average classroom teacher's salary- $39,827
-Missouri rank in average classroom teacher's salary- 44th out of 50 states
-National expenditures per pupil, $8,208
-Missouri expenditures per pupil, $7,394
-Missouri rank in expenditures per pupil,, 39th out of 50 states.
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It took awhile for the newspaper to find out about it, but the Columbia Tribune printed the results of a University of St. Louis report concerning the economic impact Governor Blunt's Medicaid cuts will have on the state of Missouri.
The findings, which were printed in The Turner Report last month, indicated that the recommended cuts would eliminate 288 jobs in Jasper County, 30 in Barton County, 18 in Dade County, 48 in McDonald County, and 84 in Newton County.
The report, it should be mentioned was completed before Governor Blunt made his recommendations. It was commissioned after former Governor Bob Holden contemplated serious Medicaid cutbacks last year. The report was written by Joel D. Ferber, Heather Bednarek Ph.D, and Muhammad Islam, Ph.D.
In addition to the job forecast, the report said the counties would see the following approximate reductions in business activity: Barton County, $4.5 million; Dade County, $1 million; Jasper County, $19 million; McDonald County, $2.4 million; and Newton County, $6 million.Reduction in income, using the same formula, would be: Barton County, $760,000; Dade County, $450,000; Jasper County, $9 million; McDonald County, $1.1 million; and Newton County, $3.2 million.
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Leggett & Platt, the Carthage-based Fortune 500 company filed papers with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission March 9 indicating it will sell up to $500 million in debt occasionally.
In the filing, company officials indicated they would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.
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Miami, Okla., city officials have been told there is nothing they can do about the removal of Nexstar Broadcasting stations KSNF and KODE from the Cable One franchise in that city.
According to an article printed this week in the Miami News-Record, City Attorney Erik Johnson said the city cannot create any rules that would come into conflict with those of the Federal Communications Commission.
The problem has not been as acute in Miami as it was in Joplin, where the stations were pulled off Cable One, because Miami is legally able to receive programming from Tulsa ABC and NBC affiliates.
"This is a disagreement between these companies and, unfortunately, it's the subscribers who are suffering," Johnson said at last Monday night's City Council meeting. "I wish we could solve this problem, but it's not something we can do anything about."