kansas
Courts
Kansas resident removed from board meeting wins First Amendment case against school board member

(The Sentinel) – In a victory for free speech rights, a federal jury recently sided with Olathe resident Jennifer Gilmore who was removed from an Olathe Board of Education … Read More

November 6, 2023
Public Education
Historic gains in parents’ rights are at risk in these Kansas school board elections on Tuesday

Hard-won, even historic, gains for parents’ rights are at risk in Tuesday’s Nov. 7 elections in the Lansing, Kansas, school district, warns a school board member there. The election for… Read More

November 1, 2023
Opinion
Kansas school board candidates get an F for honesty

(The Sentinel) – The A+ Team, a slate of four candidates for the Blue Valley school board, posted a social media ad claiming that 86% of USD 229… Read More

November 1, 2023
Courts
Judge blocks abortion notification requirements in Kansas

(The Sentinel) – A Kansas court has temporarily blocked a long-standing abortion law called the “Women’s Right to Know Act.” On Oct. 30, Johnson County District Court Judge Krishnan Christopher… Read More

November 1, 2023
Public Education
Health textbook with explicit sexual content pulled from Kansas district

(The Sentinel) – A “health” textbook describing everything from anal sex to “rational suicide” and presenting ideas such as the “gender spectrum” as fact was heavily questioned at the Oct. Read More

October 26, 2023
Opinion
Just spending more won’t improve student achievement in Kansas

(The Sentinel) – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is touting recent slight increases in state assessments as proof that more spending results in improved student achievement.  But a state audit and… Read More

October 23, 2023
Public Education
State’s ‘Star Awards’ reward processes, but cover up declining outcomes

(The Sentinel) – The Kansas Department of Education’s Star Awards program is another means of covering up low achievement and helping school districts deceive parents. Gold, Silver, Bronze… Read More

October 16, 2023
Opinion
New Kansas org claims to be moderate but wants to protect education status quo

(The Sentinel) – Declaring that rural communities in Kansas are threatened by school choice advocates, a group of former legislators have founded Kansans First, dedicated to finding a “middle ground”… Read More

October 12, 2023
Government
Education bureaucracy pushing the status quo in hearings

(The Sentinel) – Legislative hearings over this and last week are focusing on how to improve outcomes in Kansas education, perhaps unsurprisingly, the education bureaucracy is arguing for the “status quo.”… Read More

October 11, 2023
Opinion
Recommendations to improve achievement by changing adult behaviors

(The Sentinel) – Testimony submitted this week to the Kansas Special Committee on Education crystalized three unfortunate realities: (1) student achievement is low and has been trending down for many… Read More

October 10, 2023
Public Education
Kansas high school construction project, restrooms stir controversy

(The Sentinel) – Ground is set to be broken at the new Hays, Kansas High School soon, and it is unclear if the USD 489 Board of Education has even… Read More

October 3, 2023
Homeschools
Kansans show micro schools and hybrids offer innovations in learning

(The Sentinel) – Micro schools are the reimagining of the one-room schoolhouse, where class sizes are usually fewer than 15 students of varying ages, and the schedule and curriculum is… Read More

September 28, 2023
Public Education
Children exposed to porn, strangers via school tablets, apps: ‘Nothing to screen these people’

A mom in the Kansas City area thought her daughter’s fascination with “Furries” – sometimes described as a subculture of people interested in animals with human characteristics – reflected her… Read More

September 25, 2023
Culture
Kansas City librarian derides parents as ‘people who can’t let other people have opinions’ in front of audience of high school students

As Senior Teen Librarian at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library,  Kelsey Bates says she gets to “live my dream of creating a warm and welcoming space… Read More

September 20, 2023
Homeschools
Upcoming ‘Heartland Hybrid and Microschools Summit’ in Kansas City set to grow education freedom movement

If education is the final frontier in American freedom, its pioneers and homesteaders are meeting in Kansas City next weekend to map the open prairie and help each other plant… Read More

September 15, 2023
Public Education
‘Diplomas are more like attendance certificates.’ Kansas K-12 academic achievement is plummeting despite higher graduation rates

Despite a significant decrease in attendance, declining test scores and worsening college readiness, Kansas schools are simultaneously experiencing a rise in graduation rates. How can this be? “Let’s put it… Read More

September 14, 2023
Courts
Some Kansas districts still paying millions to legal group to sue the state and monitor funds won

(The Sentinel) – More than four years after the Kansas Supreme Court compelled school funding to be increased by more than $1 billion, 32 school districts in the state are still dues-paying… Read More

September 13, 2023
Culture
Johnson County, Kansas libraries to provide feminine hygiene products in men’s restrooms

(The Sentinel) – Johnson County libraries in Kansas will soon provide tampons and other feminine hygiene products in the men’s restrooms. Male visitors to the various Johnson County Library… Read More

September 7, 2023
Public Education
Kansas schools continue to see a decrease in attendance three years post-pandemic

Three years since the pandemic caused public schools to resort to online learning, Kansas schools are continuing to see a decrease in attendance.  More than one in four Kansas students… Read More

September 6, 2023
Public Education
Kansas state school board member misrepresents SEL position

(The Sentinel) – At the August board meeting, Kansas state school board member Ann Mah misrepresented a social-emotional learning (SEL) statement she attributed to Stand Together.  Mah claimed that… Read More

September 6, 2023