According to the educational ranking service, Niche, as reported by the Kansas City Business Journal, Johnson County public elementary schools, specifically Blue Valley schools, dominate the metropolitan area’s top 25 public school list. Here they are from the top:

1. Lakewood Elementary, OP
2. Cottonwood Point, OP
3. Valley Park, OP
4. Cedar Hills, OP
5. Sunrise Point, OP
6. Prairie Star, Leawood
7. Oak Hill, OP
8. Heartland, OP
9. Timber Creek, OP
10. Stilwell, Stilwell
11. Blue River, OP
12. Morse, OP
13. Harmony, OP
14. Leawood, Leawood
15. Mission Trail, Leawood
16. Indian Valley, OP
17. Overland Trail, OP
18. Sunset Ridge, OP
19. Bluejacket-Flint, Shawnee
20. Liberty View, Olathe

The first Missouri school to make the list is William Yates elementary in Independence at #21.

According to Niche, it ranks schools based on academics (50 percent of grade), the quality of the district (20 percent), teachers (20 percent), and culture and diversity (10 percent).

The result is particularly impressive given that, according to the Kansas City Star, Gov. Sam Brownback turned Kansas “into a national punch line,” specifically by starving the schools. Taking its cues from the Star, Politicususa headlined an article a year ago, “Barely Alive, Kansas Public Schools on the Verge of Brownback’s Death Blow.”

After reading these results, parents in Missouri might be wanting a little of that Brownback blow.