Education

The Council on Public Higher Education in Missouri soon will have a new leader. Long-time policy and fiscal analyst Paul Wagner will take over as executive director on February 27. 

MU’s College of Education has put its search for a new executive director on hold, following controversy over a finalist’s background as a psychologist at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

More Missouri students are training for future careers while still in high school.

Sixty-three percent of the state's high school students participated in at least one career or technical education program in the 2011-2012 school year. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says that's a 3 percent increase from the previous year.

The state of Missouri is holding a series of free financial aid workshops for prospective college students.

The events are known as "FAFSA Frenzy." The acronym stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a rite of passage for most college-bound students this time of year as the priority deadline for federal aid approaches.

Workshops are scheduled across the state on Saturday and Sunday, with a handful planned for later in February and early March.

Calling the police is now as easy as pushing a button in Kirksville Public Schools.

A day away from the two-month anniversary of a Newtown, Conn. shooting that left 20 elementary students and six teachers dead, Kirksville’s school board president Neal Chamberlain said he is more confident than ever in the safety at district schools.

“For a small community, I think we really are trying hard to provide a quality education for our kids," Chamberlain said. “One component of that is making sure we have safe places and good places for our kids to get that education.”