The North Kansas City School District and Gordon Parks charter school have turned away from year-round school, while Hickman Mills recently introduced it.
Year-round school is out at three KC-area schools, but another says it’s boosting test scores
Posted inBehind the Beacon
Partnership with Kansas City Media Collective and The Kansas City Star results in groundbreaking voter guide
The Beacon’s small staff puts a particular effort in providing coverage — valuable to voters, if not always splashy — in helping you figure out how to vote and how to enter that polling place with a clear understanding of the choices. This election season — both Kansas and Missouri have primaries on Aug. 6 […]
Posted inState Government
Where Missouri Republican candidates for governor stand on personal property taxes
Missouri Republicans running to win the governor’s race are trying to harness frustration over 2023’s property tax assessment fiasco with varying promises of cuts. State Sen. Bill Eigel, a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, has made eliminating personal property taxes on things like cars, farm and business equipment a top priority as a lawmaker […]
Posted inKansas City
Kansas City home builders push back on energy efficiency rules, blame them for housing crunch
Correction: This story originally misstated which emissions reduction target is related to the city’s energy efficiency goals. It also misstated the number of permits Kansas City issued under the new building code. The Kansas City Council gave homebuilders new rules last year designed to make housing easier on the environment. Those rules told them what kind […]
Posted inElections
Steve Huebert, Jesse McCurry, Darren Pugh running in Wichita Kansas House Republican primary for District 90
Incumbent state Rep. Carl Maughan suspended his reelection campaign after a DUI arrest. That drew three challengers — Steve Huebert, Jesse McCurry and Darren Pugh — into the Republican primary for District 90. The winner of the primary takes on Tracy Edingfield in the general election this November. The primary election is Aug. 6. You […]
Posted inElections
Jill Ward and David Hickman: Get to know the Wichita-area primary candidates
Two conservative candidates — Jill Ward and David Hickman — are running for a Kansas House seat after the retirement of longtime state Rep. Brenda Landwehr. Landwehr was first elected in 1997 and stayed in office until 2012. She then returned to office in 2017. But her possible replacements in the Republican primary have little […]
Posted inKansas
Chase Blasi takes on J.C. Moore in Kansas Senate Republican primary for District 26
Incumbent Sen. Chase Blasi, a Wichita Republican, is trying to defend his Statehouse seat from J.C. Moore, who has served in the Legislature before. Moore sells himself as more of a moderate Republican while Blasi leans more conservative in a key Republican primary race. The winner of the primary takes on Raymond Shore Jr. in the […]
Posted inEducation
Why finding enough substitute teachers is a daily challenge for Wichita schools
In the gig worker era of Uber and DoorDash, Wichita Public Schools seeks its own on-demand employees — substitute teachers. COVID-19 pandemic troubles, low wages and licensing hurdles have over the last five years tamped down the number of people signing up to substitute teach. “There’s assignments that don’t get filled almost every day,” recruiter […]
Posted inEducation
Missouri uses money, laws to push evidence-based reading instruction
If you drop into an elementary reading lesson, you might see kids learning about the long U sound, building their vocabulary or practicing how to read aloud without sounding like robots. And if you visit Kansas City Public Schools this fall, you should see all students in the same grade learning the same thing. After […]
Posted inHealth
Missouri wants pharmacists to stay quiet about ivermectin, but a judge gets to say if that’s constitutional
A politically charged Missouri law that would prevent pharmacists from counseling patients or doctors about ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, two treatments that have been debunked for COVID-19, has been on hold for two years in federal court. Yet the Missouri Board of Pharmacy posted a guidance statement at the end of June that doesn’t mention that […]