Latest news with #BeverlyGossage
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP members of Kansas task force want more struggling students to repeat a grade
Sen. Beverly Gossage of Eudora, center, and Rep. Kristey Williams of Augusta, right, agreed Kansas ought to increase pressure on parents to encourage their children to repeat a grade level if confronted with fundamental academic deficiencies. Other members of the Kansas Legislature's school finance task force pushed back, saying repeating a grade carried unintended consequences for students. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Kansas Legislature's YouTube channel) TOPEKA — Rep. Kristey Williams and Sen. Beverly Gossage landed on the same page Wednesday in terms of altering the state's public education system to encourage students to address academic deficiencies by retaking a grade. 'Are we doing these children a favor by just moving them through the grades?' said Gossage, a Eudora Republican serving on the Kansas Legislature's school finance task force. 'We need to take a look at that at each grade level.' Williams, an Augusta Republican on the task force, said Kansas ought to direct third-graders to summer school programs if those children weren't academically prepared to enter fourth grade. In Kansas, however, students couldn't be compelled to attend summer school. The state's public schools could mandate a student repeat a grade, Williams said. 'We're going to have to be a little bit stronger and not just give in on the first whim, the first cry,' Williams said. Task force member Jim Porter, who serves on the Kansas State Board of Education and couldn't read when he left third-grade, urged the task force to be wary of unintended consequences tied to holding students back. 'I think the research indicates … that holding kids back one year increases the probability of dropping out. Holding a kid back two years almost guarantees that they will be a dropout,' Porter said. Task force chairwoman Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican in the Kansas Senate, said students who couldn't read by third grade were likely to face significant scholarly and behavioral challenges during the remainder of their school years. 'Those are students, in my experience, that become behavior problems in the classroom,' Erickson said. 'They'd rather be a behavior problem than look stupid in front of their peers.' The task force scheduled a series of meetings this summer and fall with the goal of developing by January a blueprint for reforming how the Legislature allocated state tax dollars to K-12 public school districts. The current education finance system has been found by the Kansas Supreme Court to comply with the state Constitution, but many lawmakers bristle at the cost of public schools and the ability of the state to suitably educate students. Rep. Susan Estes, a Wichita Republican whose spouse is U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, said the objective should be a formula that guaranteed accountability for spending and improved educational opportunities for students. She said her key priorities were to enhance teacher salaries and concentrate on K-3 student learning. 'It really does come down to being able to redirect money,' she said. 'We are trying to put together a 1,000-piece puzzle.' Democrat Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City, Kansas, member of the task force, said Kansas ought to expand its commitment to preparing 3- and 4-year-old children for public school. She said 90% of brain development occurred before age 5, but Kansas assisted only 47% of families with pre-K programs. Kansas provided support to at-risk preschoolers for a half-day program despite working parents' need for a full day of care, said task force member Melissa Rooker, executive director of the Kansas Children's Cabinet and Trust Fund. 'I would love to see us move from basically grant funding preschool offerings in Kansas to something more stable,' she said. Rep. Nikki McDonald, an Olathe Democrat on the task force, said lawmakers should resist the temptation to micromanage school districts under the oversight of locally elected school boards and the elected state Board of Education. The key measure of the state's finance formula should be whether students sufficiently broadened their ability to process information, said Rep. Scott Hill, a task force member and Abilene Republican. He said reading ability was a leading determinant of whether people were successful people were in life. 'Change for the sake of change is worse than no change,' he said. 'Sometimes I think we want to not provide for the garden, but mow the weeds.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kansas lawmakers approve creation of new child care department, change regulations
Sen. Beverly Gossage spoke this week about the importance of creating a new department, the Kansas Early Childhood Office, to get all child-care governance under one umbrella. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — The House and Senate moved forward this week to create a new Kansas Office of Early Childhood, merging three departments that govern child care in the state, while loosening regulations for child care providers and providing an opt-out for required child vaccinations. Both chambers passed House Bill 2045, sending the legislation on to Gov. Laura Kelly for her approval. The votes came over objections from several lawmakers about the lack of a fiscal note and opportunity to debate. Sen. Beverly Gossage, a Eudora Republican, said the bill was the result of three years' worth of work to put governance of private child care under one umbrella. 'We had licensing under the Department of Education, we had funding under DCF, we had the Children's Cabinet,' she said. 'So the idea was to create the Office of Early Childhood and have a director in that office, overseeing three subdivisions.' The bill also looks at child care regulations, making changes to allow fewer education requirements for some workers in a child care facility and changing ratios of the number of adults to children, Gossage said. The bill also changes vaccination requirements, allowing a child's guardian to avoid the immunization requirements if they provide a signed written statement that immunizations violate sincerely held religious beliefs. Several legislators raised concerns that such a significant change as adding a new department was coming before the Legislature in a conference committee report, which is negotiated by representatives from both the House and Senate and can't be amended by either chamber. Sen. Doug Shane, a Louisburg Republican, said he thinks the 63-page bill should be debated in front of the Senate. 'I really appreciate and agree with a lot of changes that are brought forth in the bill, including trying to decouple child care from burdensome regulations, but I'm concerned without thoroughly vetting this and with the creation of a new agency that we set ourselves up for long-term challenges,' he said. 'Echoing the famous words of Ronald Reagan, it feels a little bit like we're from the government and we're here to help, which is probably what created our child care crisis to begin with.' In the House, Rep. Barb Wasinger, a Hays Republican, raised concerns about the bill's fiscal note, or lack thereof. 'It starts a whole new agency, which means more full-time employees, which means more money to the Children's Cabinet. It means starting a whole new preschool area involved with child care in the school district,' she said. 'I think this is a good bill with some bad changes.' Rep. Susan Ruiz, D-Shawnee, assured the House that consolidating departments under the new banner of an Early Childhood Office doesn't necessarily mean new costs, but some representatives remained unconvinced. 'I just cannot support something where we don't know how it is going to affect us financially,' said Rep. Carrie Barth, R-Baldwin City. Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell, argued that the changes to child care regulations are much needed. 'I had a lot of the same concerns that you all do, but over time we worked through it and we think this is a good bill,' he said. 'It's going to open up thousands of slots for day care. One of the No. 1 reasons people are not in the workforce is because they can't find day care for their children. This goes a long way in solving that problem.' The bill passed the Senate 30-10 and the House 99-23.
