DESE data shows that charter school enrollment steadily increased over the past few years, even as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education.
Charter school enrollment surpasses KCPS for the first time
Posted inEducation
‘Our kids are grieving’: Children’s mental health is a national emergency, and Wichita isn’t immune
In his job as a Wichita East High School social worker, Samuel Paunetto knew he’d be dealing with all the traumas teenagers routinely go through. But he’s been floored by the amount of grief he’s seeing in students every day — not just from the loss of family and friends to COVID-19, but from the […]
Posted inWatchdog
Kansas is challenging the federal vaccine mandates. Spirit and Textron are moving forward with them.
Editor’s note: We updated this story on Nov. 29 to clarify that Spirit and Textron are following a mandate for employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated by Jan. 4. The story, including the headline and a subhead, were also revised to clarify that there are three federal mandates related to vaccine mandates. Also, the […]
Posted inHealth
As debate over sheltered workshops heats up, Missouri doubles down on paying people with disabilities less
A new Missouri law allowing employers to continue paying some people with disabilities less than minimum wage has positioned the state at the forefront of a national debate over disability rights in the workplace.
Posted inEnvironment, Local Government
Kansas City declared a climate emergency. Now what?
It’s been 13 years since Kansas City, Missouri, passed its first climate protection plan. At the top of the list: drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Now the city is preparing a new plan, and emission reductions remains a focus. In 2008, the city set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 30% below 2000 […]
Posted inLocal Government
Want to serve on a Wichita board or commission? Here’s how.
In Wichita, civic boards and commissions have a litany of powers. The Metropolitan Area Planning Commission — considered the most powerful advisory board in the city — can recommend whether a residential block can be turned into a parking lot. The Board of Park Commissioners can recommend that the city acquire new land for a park. […]
Posted inEconomics
Kansas City is developing a winter plan for unhoused people. Will it be enough?
The city, in partnership with nonprofits and social service groups, is exploring solutions that include expanding capacity at shelters, building pallet homes and improving coordination among city services and resources in the community.
Posted inLocal Government
Taking KC Back needed 13,700 signatures per council member to start a recall. They collected fewer than 4,000 for each.
Even with a sharp increase in donations, the political action committee Taking KC Back has again failed to prompt a recall election in Kansas City, Missouri. The group filed affidavits with the Kansas City clerk’s office in late September, giving notice of its effort to recall Mayor Quinton Lucas and at-large council members Katheryn Shields, […]
Posted inLocal Government
Wichita’s boards and commissions underrepresent women and people of color. Here’s how the city plans to change that.
When Shala Perez began serving on city, county, state and national advisory boards in 2009, she was often the only woman and person of color in the room. Having worked in law enforcement — including the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, the Bel Aire Police Department and the Mulvane Police Department — Perez was accustomed to this. But […]
Posted inEducation
There’s a Kansas substitute teacher shortage. Here’s how you can get a license.
Update: On Jan. 12, 2022, the Kansas State Board of Education declared a state of emergency and created a less restrictive path to becoming a substitute teacher. With that action, the board established a Temporary Emergency Authorized License (TEAL), which will generally allow anyone over the age of 18 with a high school diploma to […]