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Kansas House committee plunges paring knife into state’s public university budgets
A Kansas House committee recommended a budget that cuts grants to KU, reduces need-based student aid, ties funding to elimination of DEI, offers faculty one year instead of two to fix their academic shortcomings before they are potentially fired and more.
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Lawrence Public Schools • Haskell Indian Nations University • University of Kansas • Academic excellence
MORe Education
Lawrence school board to hear enrollment projections from consulting firm, update on Futures Planning Committee
The consulting firm hired by the Lawrence school district will report its progress to the school board on Monday, including projections of declining enrollment and a possible budget scenario that would close three schools next year.
Kansas teacher shortage prompts calls for higher salaries, paying student teachers
A group of education deans from public universities in Kansas say the state needs to raise teacher pay, elevate the profession and offer student teachers a paycheck — rather than just another tuition bill — while they work in classrooms.
Lawrence Public Schools’ director of HR resigning
Sarah Hamlin, director of Human Resources for the Lawrence school district, is resigning effective immediately, according to a news release from the district.
Quail Run Elementary teacher wins Kansas Horizon Award for excellent teaching
Quail Run Elementary School teacher Julia Ferguson has been chosen to receive a Kansas Horizon Award for her positive impact on education in the state.
KU School of Music announces Paul Popiel as interim dean
The University of Kansas School of Music announced Paul Popiel as its interim dean Wednesday.
Tricia Masenthin/Lawrence Times
‘Mother of Dragons’ and her reptiles create welcoming space for culinary arts students
Chef Camille Eichorn promotes an open-door policy in her culinary arts classroom at the Lawrence College and Career Center. That’s mostly in the figurative sense, though — the room is home to bearded dragons Da Vinci and Mucha, and they mustn’t leave without a proper escort.
Kansas public universities finalizing plan in response to shortage of K-12 teachers
Education deans at public universities in Kansas working on solutions to a K-12 teacher shortage want to dramatically expand over three years state financial aid for college students in education programs and to implement a partnership to uniformly compensate student teachers.
‘Black Beyond Borders’ literary exhibit shows diversity of Black populations
Oftentimes, Black people are lumped into one box. An online literature exhibit by KU students works to show the range of cultures and lived experiences among Black people across the western hemisphere.
Chloe Anderson/Lawrence Times
KU forms committee to repatriate Indigenous ancestors, shares other efforts in progress
KU has created a committee to administer the repatriation of Indigenous remains in its possession and is working to reconcile with the university’s Indigenous communities, according to a campus update.
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
15 undergraduates from Douglas County earn research awards from KU
The University of Kansas has selected 54 students for undergraduate research awards, including 14 students from Lawrence and one from Lecompton.
Kansas public universities face $1.2 billion in deferred maintenance on core buildings
Restoring life safety and functional integrity to nearly 500 academic or research buildings on state university campuses in the Kansas Board of Regents system would cost an estimated $1.2 billion, officials said Thursday.
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school district budget scenario would close 2 elementary schools, 1 middle school
The Lawrence school district is considering a possible scenario for its budget plan that would include closing two elementary schools and one middle school.
Chronic absenteeism among K-12 students across Kansas climbs to 24.5%
The number of K-12 students in Kansas classified as chronically absent from school surged to 24.5% during the 2021-2022 academic year as educators emerged from the darkest depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kennedy staff members share progress of Lawrence school district’s early childhood education services
Lawrence school board members heard a report Monday on how students, families and staff are benefiting from the current structure of the district’s early childhood education programs, as well as future goals for improvement.
Lawrence teachers union may consider option to ‘equalize’ teacher pay in salary matrix
The Lawrence school district’s certified teachers union is considering changes to the salary matrix to improve recruitment and retention, including more equal pay movement.


