Legislative efforts to allow armed teachers have mixed results
Legislative efforts to allow armed teachers have had mixed results.
Continue reading...Archived entries for Kansas
Proposed constitutional amendment would give Kansas legislature power to set school funding
According to an Associated Press report in The Daily Union, conservative Republican state legislators upset with past Kansas Supreme Court rulings that the state was not spending enough money on its public schools have proposed a measure that would add a new sentence to the state constitution’s education article declaring that the legislature has the exclusive power to set spending on schools.
Continue reading...Kansas court rules state legislature’s school funding scheme is unconstitutional
According to The Topeka Capital-Journal, a Shawnee County District Court three-judge panel has ruled that the state legislature is failing to meet its K-12 school funding obligations under the state constitution.
Continue reading...Kansas appellate court upholds constitutionality of state law criminalizing sexual relations between teacher and student enrolled at the same school
The Kansas Court of Appeals has ruled that a state law making it a crime for a teacher to engage in sexual relations with a student enrolled at the school where the teacher is employed does not unconstitutional.
Continue reading...Kansas district seeks dismissal of suit alleging student strip search
According to Fox 4 News reported on fox4kc.com, the Turner School District has filed a motion in federal court to dismiss a suit brought by the mother of a female student who claims she was wrongfully strip-searched.
Continue reading...Evolution an issue for Kansas state school board races
According to the Kansas City Star, candidates for five of the ten seats on the Kansas State Board of Education on the November ballot cannot escape questions about how Kansas public schools should teach evolution. Educators expect the board to consider new science standards next year.
Continue reading...School funding suit claims Kansas’ education budget cuts are unconstitutional
The Associated Press reports on hutchnews.com that Attorney Alan Rupe says more than $500 million in education cuts have left Kansas public schools so underfunded that the state no longer meets its obligations to students and public school districts under the state constitution.
Continue reading...Kansas governor’s proposal to post teacher evaluations on school districts’ websites draws criticism from state legislators
According to an Associated Press (AP) report in the News-Press, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal to post teacher evaluations on school district websites has received harsh criticism from both Republicans and Democrats on the Kansas House Committee on Education, who called it “a disaster” and “pretty toxic.”
Continue reading...Kansas district considers extending protections against discrimination to transgender students and employees
According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka Unified School District 501 Board of Education (TUSD501) is considering policy additions that bar discrimination against students and employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Continue reading...Kansas Board of Education rejects proposal to require fingerprints of teachers licensed before 2002
According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, the Kansas State Board of Education (KBOE), in a 6-4 vote, decided not to submit a proposal to the Kansas attorney general or the Kansas Department of Administration for review that would require the gathering of the estimated 40,000 sets of fingerprints from teachers who received their licenses prior to 2002. The proposal would have required that the estimated 40,000 sets of fingerprints be put into the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s (KBI) Rap Back program. The program would provide instant notification to KDE if a licensed teacher is arrested or has entered into a diversion agreement for an offense that could lead to revocation of his or her license.
Continue reading...
