Estimates place Columbia’s dropout rate at about 3 percent in 2011, close to the state average. Nationally, the  U.S. Department of education places the dropout rate at around 3.4 percent in the school year ending in 2010.

So what’s being done to reduce these numbers? Intersection explored the factors that lead students to drop out of high school, and heard about what's being done in our community to change that.

Hosted by Ryan Famuliner.

Panelists:
Eryca Neville, principal, Douglass High School
Lorenzo Lawson, executive director, Youth Empowerment Zone

Over the past 30 years, the cost of getting a college degree increased twelve-fold, according to Bloomberg News. In this conversation we look into why and how that happened. We also explore how state law in Missouri limiting the amount of tuition increases affects the finances and quality of education at our state's institutions of higher learning.

Panelists:
Tery Donelson, assistant vice president for enrollment management, Columbia College
Nikki Krawitz, vice president for finance and administration, University of Missouri system
Tim Rooney, former budget director, University of Missouri

Among the many proposals outlined in Gov. Jay Nixon's State of the State address last week, his proposed budget includes a $17 million increase in funding for early childhood education programs. We look into what the early-childhood needs are, what kind of impact state-funded programs might have, and how far the additional funding would go.

Scheduled panelists:
Steve Calloway, president, Minority Men’s Network
Jack Jensen, executive director, First Chance for Children
Mernell King, early childhood programs director, Central Missouri Community Action (CMCA)

Immediately following Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's annual State of the State address, we brought together panelists inside the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City to provide a first round of analysis. Together we go through the governor's main points and discuss the specific proposals, which include a significant expansion of Medicaid in Missouri, increased funding for education at all levels, consolidation within the Department of Natural Resources, and the elimination of some of the state's 61 different tax credit programs.

Panelists:
Phill Brooks, director of Missouri Digital News and statehouse correspondent for KMOX
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, 45th District
Rep. Caleb Jones, R-California, 50th District

The Columbia Public School district is in the midst of deciding new start times for the district's elementary, middle and high schools. We discuss the options on the table and explore how the changes could affect parents, students and teachers.

Panelists:
Christine King, vice president, Columbia Board of Education
Mark Maus, principal, Rock Bridge High School

As the year comes to a close, we recap some of the stories that made headlines over the past 12 months, and take a look ahead into what 2013 might bring.

Panelists:
Scott Swafford, senior city editor, Columbia Missourian
Lora Wegman, city editor, Columbia Daily Tribune
David Lieb, correspondent, The Associated Press
 (joining by phone)

A two-part program hosted by KBIA's Rehman Tungekar:
FIRST HALF OF PROGRAM: The tragedy in Connecticut has brought renewed focus on school safety, both locally, and across the nation. We learn how a training program that deals with responding to an armed intruder is being used in Columbia Public Schools.
SECOND HALF OF PROGRAM: According to a recent poll, the number of Missourians opposing the Affordable Care Act has dropped in the last two years. Despite this, many folks still might not know what’s in the nearly 1,000-page law. We talk about the federal health care law and find out how it affects everyday Missourians.

Panelists:
Michelle Baumstark, spokesperson, Columbia Public Schools
Greg Crane, coordinator of ALiCE training for schools and campuses (joining by phone)

Thomas McAuliffe, policy analyst for the Missouri Foundation for Health
Andrew Quint, medical director, Family Health Center in Columbia
Mary Timmel, outreach manager at Small Business Majority (joining by phone)

We bring together three freshly elected state representatives from mid-Missouri to explain their legislative priorities and to discuss what we might expect from the state legislature in the coming year.

Panelists:
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, state Rep.-elect, 45th District
Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, state Rep.-elect, 46th District
John Wright, D-Rocheport, state Rep.-elect, 47th District

How do we know whether our schools are doing a good job of what they are supposed to do? Standardized tests have often been the answer, but what exactly should the tests be measuring? We discuss efforts in Missouri to encourage success in schools, and we talk about how best to measure -- and to improve -- the quality of student learning.

Panelists:
Carol Maher, assistant professor, University of Missouri College of Education
Sally Beth Lyon, chief academic officer, Columbia Public Schools
Margie Vandeven, assistant commissioner in the Office of Quality Schools at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Why does the amount of college debt keep rising? Are students threatening their own futures by taking on unwieldy debt loads? And how big is the danger of indebted graduates not being able to pay back what they borrowed? We explore the causes and effects of large amounts of student debt.

Panelists:
Richard Schwartz, professor of English, University of Missouri and author of “Is a College Education Still Worth the Price? A Dean’s Sobering Perspective”
Paul Wagner, deputy commissioner, Missouri Department of Higher Education
Sandy Baum, professor of economics emerita at Skidmore College and independent higher education policy analyst for the College Board (joining by phone)