Kansas education

Kansas artists and cultural organizations would be stripped of state grants if the Kansas Legislature adopts a Senate-approved budget, which entirely eliminates funding the Kansas Arts Commission. The impact would be felt even harder in smaller and rural communities.

While Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran spoke at a luncheon at the K-State campus in Olathe, protesters lined the street imploring him stand up to the Trump administration as it takes aggressive, and at times illegal, steps to reshape the federal government.

Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson urged districts to cancel breaks or extend the school year to make up for snow days. He is also proposing half-day summer school for young students who are struggling in reading and math.

University of Kansas leaders say they won’t offer gender-inclusive living assignments at one dormitory beginning next academic year, and they will get rid of a gender-neutral bathroom there.

Vera Daniels and Celeste Hoins, substitute teachers in the Lansing school district near Kansas City, are suing the district. They say they were fired for speaking out against school district policies.

Despite objections from parents and students, Leavenworth School District Board of Education voted 4-3 this week to pass revisions to an education policy that bans “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” references in the district’s elementary library books.

A legislative committee on education offered a glimpse at what Kansas lawmakers could propose during the 2024 session. The Legislature hinted at changing the formula for funding special education and pushing more school choice measures.

Research shows that most children need systematic, sound-it-out instruction — commonly called phonics — rather than older approaches that focus on context clues from pictures and stories.

Conservatives want to make it easier for Kansas families to send their children to private schools, and they’re once again pushing for more parental control over what’s taught in public school classrooms.

In one of the costliest cases of its kind, the Wichita school district was ordered to pay a family nearly $250,000, plus ongoing private school expenses, for denying a child special education services.