Raising five children and working as a teacher’s aide in Newton left Emily Crawford with too little time to take college classes to become a teacher. So she became an apprentice — earning a teacher’s salary ahead of schedule. All those hours tied up in the classroom helped pave her path to a college degree, […]
teachers
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 […]
No zeros: How a new KCPS grading policy is meant to improve equity
Tricia McGhee, a KCPS parent, backs the 40% grade minimum. But she said the late work policy has been unclear and inconsistent in her daughters’ middle school.
“I’ve spent $5,000 on my classroom in a year”: Wichita group steps up to fight out-of-pocket costs for teachers
“Teachers have been expected to give and give and give to our students,” Fortier said. “And we are told we should do it for the kids because we love the kids. We shouldn’t worry about the paycheck or the overtime or the time spent away from our own families and kids.”
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 […]
First-year teachers are Kansas’ future — if schools can keep them
For all the challenges she faced in getting to her first day as a teacher, Kora Snavely could feel any nerves or anxiety melt away when her 20 students filtered into her classroom for the first day of second grade at Meadowlark Elementary in Andover. Snavely, who graduated college in May, wanted to lead her […]