Kansas schools

Two years into the COVID pandemic, students aren’t returning to public school in droves. So Kansas districts are starting budget talks with pared-down enrollment numbers and tightened belts.

Conservatives say the plan would give families stuck in failing school districts a chance at a life-changing escape. But school administrators fear a flood of students they’re not prepared for and who come with needs they can’t afford to accommodate.

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie was challenged by the grandparent of a Derby ninth-grader. A district committee decided to no longer allow teachers to use the novel in lessons and to remove it from the library at Derby North Middle School.

Wichita-area school board member Andy Watkins said he raised concerns about the video because he thinks terminology used in it “has a direct tie to critical race theory,” and he was concerned about “making this terminology … the norm.”

District officials say the book is being reviewed by a school-level committee that includes a principal, librarian, teachers and parents. The Salina school board is expected to hear from people on both sides during its meeting Tuesday.

A new temporary substitute license does away with a previous requirement that subs have at least 60 hours of college coursework.

Generally, teachers will “gut it out for the kids” until the end of the year. But a notably different tenor this fall has some Kansas educators speaking out against what they say is a toxic environment.

The report offers dozens of other recommendations advocating for expanding tracking of demographic information, targeting use of COVID-19 relief funds and incentive programs to diversify workforces.

Critics say public schools are echoing liberal talking points in ways that breed white guilt and accelerate racial conflict.

Some parents want more flexible schedules or greater control over their children’s lessons. Others are disillusioned with the traditional model of education or worried about plummeting test scores.