A St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who happened on teacher Social Security numbers on a government website immediately informed state education officials of this serious breach of privacy. Nonetheless, Missouri Governor Mike Parson chose to open a criminal investigation claiming the reporter hacked a state website. (The Washington Post, January 9, 2022, by William H. Feivogel)
The Editorial Board of the Springfield News-Leader, October 15, 2021, castigated the governor for his poor understanding of the internet and the law. “No one expects Parson to thank a newspaper for uncovering a state agency’s failures,” the editorial reads “— failures that, according to his own estimation, could cost $50 million to correct. But it seems he could at least admit the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s website was too light on security and assure the thousands of hard-working teachers that his administration will make things right.”