Missing school has become a crisis statewide. More than one in four Kansas students were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year, which means they missed at least 10% of instruction time. That figure nearly doubled over the previous two years.
The Shawnee Mission district has been embroiled in a debate about diversity, equity and inclusion training with a small but vocal group of parents and community members calling the training “indoctrination” and a product of the “woke agenda.”
Eight public school districts from Attica to Dodge City to Tonganoxie launched the pilot of a program designed to develop more classroom educators through a four-year registered teacher apprenticeship.
Barton County residents will decide whether to break up with their school district and “start fresh” following heartbreak and anger over the closure of a rural community’s high school.
The Kansas State Board of Education voted unanimously to recommend a four-year initiative raising state aid to special education by $86.6 million annually to bring Kansas into compliance with the law.
Gov. Laura Kelly struck down a K-12 budget bill provision that would have decreased funding to more than one-third of Kansas public schools, calling the provision potentially “devastating” for rural communities.
Adam Peters, GOP chairman in Ellis County, draws a parallel between the average Kansas fourth-grader and Janissaries of the 16th century Ottoman feudal system, saying public schools will ”weaponize those children against you.”
The school funding bill forwarded by the Kansas Legislature to Gov. Laura Kelly contained an unexpected budget twist that potentially blindsided as many as 100 public school districts with declining enrollment.
The Kansas Legislature passed a K-12 education package Friday that fully funds public schools but includes expansion of a tax credit for private school students and allows private school students to participate in public school sports and activities.
Kansas teachers of the year rallied at the Statehouse to push for a clean K-12 education funding bill, joined by Gov. Laura Kelly in an attempt to sway lawmakers before the veto override session begins.
