Author

Annelise Hanshaw

Annelise Hanshaw

Annelise Hanshaw writes about education — a beat she has covered on both the West and East Coast while working for daily newspapers in Santa Barbara, California, and Greenwich, Connecticut. A born-and-raised Missourian, she is proud to be back in her home state.

Missouri committee debates transgender sports, healthcare, drag shows for nine hours

By: - January 25, 2023

The Neiss family drove from St. Louis to Jefferson City on Tuesday, a trip they’ve made many times over the past four years. The reason is always the same: Legislation they fear will harm their transgender son. On the agenda Tuesday night in the House General Laws Committee were a litany of bills aimed at […]

Sweeping education bill clears Missouri Senate committee without anti-transgender provision

By: - January 24, 2023

A Senate committee removed a controversial proposal targeting transgender athletes from a wide-ranging education bill Tuesday, but the committee’s chair indicated more debate to come on the issue. On a six to three vote along party lines, the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee approved legislation that would dictate how history and race are taught […]

Drag performers at Columbia event push back against Missouri Republican attack

By: and - January 23, 2023

A drag performance last week at a diversity event attended by Columbia middle schoolers was “high-brow and innocent,” not the salacious sexual display alleged by Missouri Republicans, the marketing director for the group behind the performance said Sunday. At the annual Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast, timed to be near the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, […]

Missouri AG says lawsuit shows ‘dystopian’ ties of big tech, federal agencies to suppress speech

By: - January 20, 2023

A “shadowy organization” in the Department of Homeland Security leads the effort to undermine free speech by coercing social media companies, Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Friday in a speech to the Missouri chapter of the Federalist Society. In his first public speech to a nonpartisan audience since taking office Jan. 3, Bailey talked about […]

Missouri lawmaker works with Humane Society to stop use of gas to kill shelter animals

By: - January 20, 2023

Some of Missouri’s animals’ last moments are spent in a gas chamber, suffocating in carbon dioxide – but a bill by Rep. Adam Schwadron, R-St. Charles, would bar shelters from using this type of euthanasia. “Humanely treating our animals in our shelters is something that’s very important for us in the state,” Schwadron said. “And […]

A seven-member committee meets in a wood-paneled room with a two-chair desk in front of it

Critical race theory dominates Missouri Senate committee hearing on education bills

By: - January 18, 2023

Lawmakers debated critical race theory for two hours Wednesday, as the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee heard public testimony on a pair of bills that both seek to create a so-called “Parents Bill of Rights.” The two bills would establish a statewide transparency portal for public schools and enshrine parental rights, like a right […]

Missouri Republicans renew early focus on parental rights, critical race theory

By: - January 17, 2023

Parental access to school records – and how history and race are taught in Missouri classrooms – will be among the first topics considered by lawmakers this legislative session. During the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee’s first meeting Wednesday afternoon, committee members will hear testimony on a pair of bills dubbed the “Parents’ Bill […]

A modern office building on a clear day with the words "Lee's Summit R-VII School District" on the tile facade

Lee’s Summit school district’s countersuit against Missouri AG seeks to set a precedent

By: - January 12, 2023

The Lee’s Summit R-VII School District spent $72,824 last year fighting the Missouri Attorney General’s office. It is the last district standing in an onslaught of civil suits former Attorney General Eric Schmitt brought against school districts who enforced mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly all the lawsuits were dismissed, most at the request […]

Missouri GOP renews push to limit transgender athlete participation in school sports

By: - December 27, 2022

There have been more bills prefiled for Missouri’s 2023 legislative session regarding transgender athletes than there are transgender athletes currently competing according to their identity in public schools. Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate have combined to file 10 bills seeking to restrict the ability of transgender minors to play in youth sports. […]

A stone government building on a cold, grey day

Judge grants injunction keeping longtime Agape director off Missouri child abuse registry

By: and - December 21, 2022

Agape Boarding School’s longtime director once again won a court order Wednesday keeping his name off Missouri’s central registry for child abuse and neglect.  Cole County Circuit Court Judge Brian Stumpe granted Bryan Clemensen’s request for a preliminary injunction against Missouri’s Department of Social Services on Wednesday morning, the second time Clemensen has won a […]

Another symptom of Missouri teacher shortage: Growing number of 4-day school weeks

By: - December 19, 2022

Over a quarter of Missouri school districts learn on a four-day schedule. And up until last week, they were small, rural districts – some with as few as 50 students. That changed when Independence School District voted to implement the schedule for its 14,000 students next fall. Missouri policymakers are taking notice, with varying ideas […]