Missouri’s childcare crisis keeps growing

By Jason Hancock | Editor-in-Chief

Good morning,

Missouri childcare centers have empty classrooms. Thousands of parents need those spots. Yet the state's subsidy waitlist has grown to 11,618 children, and officials aren't requesting additional funding next year.

Steph Quinn examines how this disconnect is squeezing families and providers, with no clear end in sight.

Meanwhile, Missouri Senate Republicans have chosen new leaders following an election that cost them their supermajority.

I spoke with incoming leaders Jason Bean and Nick Schroer about what went wrong Tuesday, what voters want from lawmakers and how a reshaped Senate might operate when it reconvenes in January.

by Steph Quinn

There were 11,618 children on the waiting list for Missouri’s childcare subsidy program on Oct. 5 — more than a third of all children eligible for assistance.

by Jason Hancock

Missouri Senate Republicans will return to Jefferson City in January with fewer seats, a flood of newcomers and new leaders who say they heard voters’ frustration Tuesday — even as they have yet to settle on what to do about it.

by Jonathan Shorman

Amid a nationwide blue tsunami and voter backlash in Southern states that split apart districts where a majority of residents are Black, Democrats won seats that Republicans redrew to give themselves an advantage.

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