Category: News
‘Shall conduct needs assessment’ confuses K-12 officials
Two state senators last week bluntly rebuked the Kansas Association of School Boards and the United School Administrators when they…
K-12 enrollment still down, but funding keeps rising
Full-time equivalent enrollment is still about 10,000 students lower than pre-pandemic levels, but state and local funding is $840 million…
Blue Valley, Olathe: open enrollment brings undesirable students
School officials’ rejection of an open enrollment bill in the Kansas legislature offers a rare glimpse of an elitist attitude…
Salina parents object to the district’s COVID segregation policy
Salina Public Schools have maintained they do not have an exclusion policy for students who are either unvaccinated or who…
Kansas Press Association hopes to curb open records costs
With little incentive to be transparent, the state and some local governing bodies often fight Kansas Open Records Act requests…
Johns Hopkins: minimal mortality effect from Covid lockdowns
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have concluded that lockdowns in Europe and the United States resulted in only…
Transparency works: 52% of local entities won’t increase property tax
Property tax transparency is working even better than proponents hoped, with 52% of local taxing authorities in Kansas deciding to…
ACTA critical of KS colleges’ degree requirements, graduation
The 2020-21 edition of “What Will They Learn?” by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is sharply critical…
Responsible Kansas Budget would control spending
As the Kansas Legislature weighs Governor Kelly’s budget proposals during the current session, the Kansas Policy Institute — which owns…
JCCC’s Bowne won’t explain his ‘equity of outcomes’ proposal
Johnson County Community College President Dr. Andy Bowne has upset some faculty members with his call for ‘equitable student outcomes.’…
NSBA wants schools to effectively have “one free rape”
The National Schools Boards Association (NSBA) and Fairfax County Public Schools want the U.S. Supreme to hear a case that…
SB 347: $1 billion+ taxpayer subsidy for one mystery company
Governor Laura Kelly and her Commerce Department are behind Senate Bill 347 (SB 347), which could provide more than $1…
Race not a factor in Kansas monoclonal antibody decisions
A race-based scoring system to determine who will get the relatively-scarce monoclonal antibody COVID treatments is found in some states,…
De Soto TIF subsidy unanimously approved despite concern
Despite numerous public concerns, the De Soto City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a Taxpayer Increment Financing District (TIF) to…
Sunflower subsidy to grow government, not help De Soto taxpayers
The city of De Soto will eventually reap millions of dollars in property taxes once the Sunflower Redevelopment subsidy is…
County Chair Ed Eilert mum on upwards of $1 million missing
Fox4 reports that as much as $1 million is missing from the Johnson County Courthouse, and County Chairman Ed Eilert…
Survey: Kansas parents should have primary say in education
Governor Laura Kelly thinks parents should butt out of curriculum issues, but a new poll shows parents overwhelmingly believe they…
No documentation for mask order at BVSW in USD 229
An email from Principal Scott Roberts on January 7 informed parents of Blue Valley Southwest (BVSW) students in USD 229…
Kansas ranks 34th in the nation in ‘Parent Power’ in education
According to the nonprofit Center for Educational Reform, Kansas ranks 34th in the nation in their “Parent Power Index,” which…
Kelly issues new disaster declaration — cautioned against overreach
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly again issued a disaster declaration on Jan. 6 — the first such since the previous state…
Kansas Supreme Court reverses district court ruling on SB 40
The Kansas Supreme Court reversed a ruling from a district court judge declaring Senate Bill 40, — which gave due…
Chamber business leader survey shows taxes are too high in KS
The Tax Foundation last year said Kansas has the highest effective tax rates in the nation on mature businesses, and…
Kansas lost population in 2021, residents seek lower tax burden
New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show Kansas is one of 18 states that lost population in 2021. …
USD 231 superintendent Pam Stranathan gets $425k gift from taxpayers
Student achievement steadily declined in Gardner-Edgerton under Superintendent Pam Stranathan. The district consciously misled legislators, Stranathan asked county commissioners to…