Ingrid Burnett
Ingrid Burnett | |
|---|---|
Rep. Ingrid Burnett | |
| Minority Caucus Chair of the Missouri House of Representatives | |
| In office 2019–2025 | |
| Leader | Crystal Quade |
| Preceded by | Gina Mitten |
| Succeeded by | Emily Weber |
| Member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 19th district | |
| In office January 2017 – January 8, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | John Joseph Rizzo |
| Succeeded by | Wick Thomas |
| KCPS Board | |
| In office 2002–2008 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 25, 1953 |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | John Burnett |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Webster Groves High School (1971) University of Missouri–Kansas City (BA) Avila University (MS) |
Ingrid Burnett, 72, is an American politician and former educator from Missouri. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She was a member of the Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) Board of Directors from 2002 to 2008, including as vice president.[1][2]
She represented District 19 in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2017 until 2025, when she was term-limited. From 2019 to 2025, Burnett was the House Minority Caucus Chair.[1]
Early life and education
Burnett was born in St. Louis, Missouri.[3] She is a long-time resident of Kansas City's Historic Northeast area.[2] She graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1971.[3] She earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in music education and music therapy from the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) in 1979.[2] In 1998, she earned a Master of Science (MS) in counseling psychology from Avila University.[3]
Career
Education and politics
Burnett was the principal of Holy Family School in Independence until the school's closure in 1996. After receiving her master's degree, she worked as an elementary counselor in the Independence School District.[2]
In 2002, she joined the Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) Board of Directors, including as vice president, and left in 2008.[1][2] Her tenure coincided with the academic and financial fallout from the conclusion of the Missouri v. Jenkins case. In 2000, KCPS had become the first in the nation to lose its accreditation, and regained a provisional status in 2002, the year she joined the board.[4] In this landmark case about the school district's historic loss of state accreditation due to its unconstitutional racial segregation, the major legal rulings were issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995, followed by a final settlement between the state and KCPS in 1997, prior to her tenure on the board.[5] Closure of the case still required the board's complete administrative actions.[6] Her website states she had "a key role in resolving the district's long-running federal desegregation lawsuit".[2][7]
In 2002, she also became the Jackson County Democratic Committee representative for Ward 11.[2]
Missouri House of Representatives
Burnett was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2016 and served until she was term-limited in 2025, serving as the House Minority Caucus Chair from 2019 to 2025.[1] Her legislative work focused on themes from her career in education and on government transparency.
Education policy
Burnett's policy positions were informed by her 30-year career as an educator and counselor. She became one of four legislators appointed to the Blue Ribbon Commission on Teacher Recruitment and Retention, defining her motivation to KCUR-FM: "We can't continue to treat our teachers this way ... That was the passion that I came to the commission with, that we would find a way to get support staff in the classroom". She noted that she successfully allocated money for support staff in the previous year's budget, but Governor Mike Parson vetoed it.[8] She argued that low teacher pay was driving educators to neighboring states, telling KCUR that "oftentimes, there's more political advantage to being critical of the public schools than there is to supporting them".[9]
She championed the state's Career Ladder program and its salary supplements: "It allowed me to pay for my kid's braces. I couldn't have done that without the Career Ladder Program."[10] She took public stances on curriculum censorship, and in 2022, was quoted in Mother Jones denouncing a one-sided legislative hearing on critical race theory: "It is the height of irony that a hearing to consider censoring curriculum would censor those who are allowed to speak".[11]
Her work was recognized with several advocacy awards from educational groups. In 2022, she received the Horace Mann Award from the Missouri National Education Association, given to officials who have "worked for the passage of important educational legislation".[12][13] In 2024, she received the Otto Bean Jr. Award from the Missouri Art Education Association, which honors "elected officials who have significantly advanced the arts and art education in Missouri".[14] In 2024, she received the "Government Advocate Award" from the Missouri Alliance for Arts Education.[15]
Legislative stances
In 2018, Burnett emerged as a vocal critic of the Eric Greitens administration's use of Confide, a messaging app that destroys messages after they are read. She argued that the practice violated the state's public records Sunshine Law, and told the PBS NewsHour, "We should not be allowed to conduct state business using invisible ink".[16]
In 2024, she opposed a bill to fund the deployment of Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers to the U.S. border in Texas. She argued that the resources were needed locally, telling the press it was "a reckless move to deplete our service people".[17]
In 2024, she cast the single dissenting vote on housing policy, when the House passed a bill (145–1) to prohibit local governments from enacting eviction moratoriums. She explained to KCUR, "We can't anticipate the kinds of disasters that could require some extraordinary circumstance, extraordinary rules".[18]
Electoral history
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ingrid Burnett | 787 | 50.61% | ||
| Democratic | Manny Abarca IV | 768 | 49.39% | ||
| Total votes | 1,555 | 100.00% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ingrid Burnett | 5,479 | 76.60% | ||
| Green | Valorie Engholm | 1,674 | 23.40% | ||
| Total votes | 7,153 | 100.00% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ingrid Burnett | 4,904 | 79.35% | +2.75 | |
| Green | Valorie Engholm | 1,276 | 20.65% | −2.75 | |
| Total votes | 6,180 | 100.00% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ingrid Burnett | 892 | 40.27% | −10.34 | |
| Democratic | Phyllis Harwick | 779 | 35.17% | n/a | |
| Democratic | Nicholas (Wick) Thomas | 544 | 24.56% | n/a | |
| Total votes | 2,215 | 100.00% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ingrid Burnett | 7,026 | 100.00% | +20.65 | |
| Total votes | 7,026 | 100.00% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ingrid Burnett | 1,146 | 58.53% | +18.26 | |
| Democratic | Wick Thomas | 812 | 41.47% | +16.91 | |
| Total votes | 1,958 | 100.00% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ingrid Burnett | 4,099 | 78.34% | −21.66 | |
| Republican | Karen I. Spalding | 1,133 | 21.66% | +21.66 | |
| Total votes | 5,232 | 100.00% | |||
Personal life
Burnett is married to John Burnett, who previously served in the Missouri House of Representatives.[26] They have three children.[27]
References
- ^ a b c d "Representative Ingrid Burnett". house.mo.gov. Missouri House of Representatives. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ingrid Burnett". ingridburnett.com. Ingrid Burnett for Missouri. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Former State Rep. Ingrid Burnett - Biography". legistorm.com. LegiStorm. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- ^ "With Reforms and Improvement, Kansas City Regains Accreditation". Urban Educator. Council of the Great City Schools. January 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- ^ "Missouri v. Jenkins". Oyez. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ P.A.C.E. v. School District of Kansas City (United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit November 21, 2002) ("Ingrid Y. Burnett, School Board Member... Defendants-appellees"), Text.
- ^ a b Smith, Deann; McGuire, Donna (August 14, 2003). "Judge Ends Desegregation Case After 26 Years and $2 Billion". The Kansas City Star. pp. A1, A8. Retrieved January 12, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
"The ruling validates what teachers are doing. That's powerful for teachers." said school board member Ingrid Burnett.
- ^ Fortino, Jodi (April 10, 2024). "Missouri's teacher shortage isn't getting any better. Will lawmakers act on a plan to fix it?". KCUR-FM. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- ^ Fortino, Jodi (December 29, 2022). "Missouri's teachers are among the nation's worst-paid. Some districts are getting creative to fix that". KCUR-FM. Kansas City, Missouri: University of Missouri–Kansas City. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
- ^ Nelson, Alisa (September 13, 2022). "Missouri commission finalizing recommendations designed to put more teachers in classrooms". Missourinet. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- ^ Butler, Kiera (January 26, 2022). "School Boards Have Long Been a Tool of White Supremacy ..." Mother Jones. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "State Representative earns Missouri Horace Mann award". Northeast News. October 12, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "HORACE MANN FRIEND OF EDUCATION AWARDS" (PDF). mnea.org. Missouri National Education Association. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- ^ "Awards - Missouri Art Education Association". maea.net. Missouri Art Education Association. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- ^ "MAAE NEWS - May 2024". MAAE NEWS. Missouri Alliance for Arts Education. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- ^ Hofstetter, Elisa (March 19, 2018). "Private messaging apps undermine state public record laws". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "Missouri House sends bill funding border deployment to the Senate". Phelps County Focus. February 27, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
- ^ Albrecht, Brian (May 17, 2024). "Missouri legislature passes bill banning local governments from halting evictions". KCUR-FM. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
- ^ "Election Results; Official Election Returns" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. August 25, 2016. p. 48. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Election Results; Official Election Returns" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. December 7, 2016. p. 34. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Election Results; Official Election Returns" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. November 30, 2018. p. 50. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Election Results; Official Election Returns" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. August 24, 2020. p. 39. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Election Results; Official Election Returns" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. p. 52. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Election Results; Official Election Returns" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. August 26, 2022. p. 39. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Election Results; Official Election Returns" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. December 9, 2022. p. 52. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "Burnett focused on helping community after close win over Abarca". The Missouri Times. September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Rep. John Patrick Burnett". Missouri House of Representatives. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
Further reading
- Ellison, Brian (September 27, 2017). "Missouri Democrats Unveil Their Vision for Health Care, Acknowledge Long Odds". KBIA. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- "Representative Ingrid Burnett - 99th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session". house.mo.gov. Missouri House of Representatives. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
- "Representative Ingrid Burnett - 102nd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session". house.mo.gov. Missouri House of Representatives. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Ingrid Burnett at Ballotpedia