Latest news with #KansasStateDepartmentofEducation
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kansas' education commissioner works for student success in high-stakes, political realm
Randy Watson, commissioner of the Kansas State Department of Education, speaks on the Kansas Reflector podcast about vouchers, curriculum, compensation, school meals and the legacy of No Child Left Behind. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Kansas State Department of Education commissioner Randy Watson has an unobstructed view of financial, political and social battles about how best to educate nearly 500,000 school children in Kansas. In addition to regular collaboration with members of the Kansas State Board of Education, he routinely visits classrooms to absorb perspectives on everything from the basics of reading and math to human sexuality, special education, summer school and the training of current and future teachers. He wades into issues of access to computer technology and cellphones in schools. He's there for debates on appropriation of state and federal tax dollars to public education, as well as how that funding was deployed in more than 280 local school districts across Kansas. 'What makes me want to get up in the morning is trying to help young people and the people that serve those young people do their job well. There's rarely a week that I'm not in schools,' Watson said on the Kansas Reflector podcast. 'I not a politician, but I deal in a political environment all the time. At the end of the day, again, what gets me up is: How can we help people that educate kids have a great environment to do so?' The state Board of Education has a constitutional responsibility for public education in Kansas and the duty to hire a state education commissioner to assist with crafting policy, rules and regulations aimed at fulfilling the promise of education in preschool to high school classrooms. Watson, a former teacher and superintendent, recently recommended the state Board of Education and local school boards consider working together on a special summer school program to help the students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 gain some academic ground in the subjects of reading and math. The COVID-19 pandemic set children back at all levels, he said, but recovery has been influenced by separate decisions to reduce the number of school days while maintaining the required total of annual hours of instruction. 'A lot of research says if you're not at that grade level by the time you hit third grade, it's really hard to catch up, and most do not,' he said. 'In fact, more fall further behind.' He said a summer program would be voluntary for students and could involve 90 minutes of instruction daily. Students could come together for four-day weeks and gain about 50 hours of instruction time, he said. 'If that was with one of our many great teachers in Kansas, what could we do? We could stop the summer slide for sure,' he said. Of course, the Kansas Legislature and the state's governor have large roles in terms of funding and policy of public education. That involves politics and, at times, controversy. Members of the 2025 Legislature attempted, but failed, to gain traction with a bill providing as much as $125 million in annual state funding in the form of state income tax breaks to families of students in private schools. Similar proposals to ease the financial burden of enrolling 26,000 students to accredited and unaccredited private schools have surfaced in Kansas, but those also met the fate of Senate Bill 75. The bill introduced by Republican Sen. Renee Erickson, a former middle school principal in Wichita, didn't advance in the House or Senate. 'Some states have gone full force into that,' Watson said. 'Other states have pulled back. Some states have put that up to a vote. I can tell you currently where the state board is on that. They believe that public funds should go to public education.' Watson, too, observed as the Legislature placed in state law, despite Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto, contents of a bill that dealt on two objectives. Part of the bill granted the state Board of Education authority to set compensation of elected board members, while the balance mandated public schools that teach anything about human development to also present students with a computer-generated animation or high-definition ultrasound video of fetal development. The law says the presentation must last at least 3 minutes. A battle between Kansans for Life and Planned Parenthood illustrated the core of the bill was about influencing opinions of school children on abortion rights, which were affirmed by the Kansas Supreme Court and by Kansas voters. Statehouse debate on the fetal development curriculum bill touched on the state Board of Education's constitutional role in establishing educational standards and the responsibility of local school boards to determine precise curriculum. 'The state board was opposed to that bill. It had nothing to do with the content,' Watson said. 'What is shown in a video is a local board decision, and the state board said, while we may or may not like the contents, that is a local decision, and we don't think the Kansas Legislature should weigh in on it.' In terms of compensation, the Legislature maneuvered to nearly double their own salaries on Jan. 1. The decision was made to decouple the state Board of Education from the Legislature in terms of daily compensation for travel costs and expenses tied to work for the state. Toward the end of the 2025 session, a bill surfaced with the human development curriculum mandate and a provision directing the state Board of Education to set its own compensation rate. It didn't include funding to the state Board of Education to address any costs. The state Board of Education plans to take up the issue during a meeting in May. 'They'll certainly have to do something with it, because the new law says you shall set your rate. So even if they set it where it is now, they're going to have to take some action to do that,' Watson said. In January, the governor proposed the Legislature pay the cost of meals for children enrolled in the state's reduced-price school meal program. She suggested lawmakers allocate $5.5 million to provide free rather than subsidized meals to about 36,000 students statewide. With federal assistance, Kansas currently provides free meals to about 40% of students in public schools or approximately 200,000 youths. Kelly's idea was for the state to cover the reduced-meal cost for each child at 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. 'We can reduce childhood hunger, we can reduce the stigma our low-income students face in our school cafeterias, and we can increase academic success,' Kelly said. Watson said the Republican-led Legislature didn't buy into the governor's idea for supplementing the cost of school meals for children in lower-income families. 'What Governor Kelly was proposing is putting some state money into that, but that was not adopted in this legislative session,' he said. Watson also reflected on lessons learned through former President George W. Bush's ambitious No Child Left Behind program from 2002 to 2015. It was designed to hold schools accountable for learning among all students, including subgroups of low-income students, students with disabilities and students of color. The objective was to have every student reach proficient levels in math and reading. NCLB became controversial because it penalized schools that didn't show annual improvement on standardized student tests. State assessments should be viewed as a measure of how students were doing academically instead of the lone metric of success or failure, Watson said. 'President Bush was thinking, we want kids to learn how to read and do math. It's a great goal. It's a noble goal. And I would applaud that,' Watson said. 'When we put that into law, I don't think he could have foreseen what the consequences were going to be if you were going to require that. What happened is that, at least in Kansas, I won't speak to other states, but I think it's pretty typical teachers said, 'Well, then we won't teach science. We won't teach social studies. Oh, we'll cut recess out. We teach to that test because it became so high stakes.' ' He said NCLB affirmed chasing student test scores just to obtain a mark acceptable to politicians shouldn't be the primary focus of a classroom teacher, school principal, district superintendent or school board member.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Kansas teacher of the year finalists honored for excellence
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Two teachers from south-central Kansas have been named Region 4 finalists for the 2026 Kansas Teacher of the Year award. Susan Rogers, a first-grade teacher at Derby Hills Elementary, and Jason Peters, a high school math teacher at Hesston High School, were recognized during a ceremony held Saturday at the Wichita Marriott Hotel. The Kansas Teacher of the Year program, organized by the Kansas State Department of Education, honors outstanding educators in both elementary and secondary classrooms. Rogers and Peters now advance as two of eight finalists statewide who will be considered for the overall Kansas Teacher of the Year title, set to be announced Sept. 20 in Wichita. As regional finalists, each will receive a $2,000 award from Security Benefit, a longtime supporter of the program. They were selected from a pool of six Region 4 semifinalists, representing the state's 4th congressional district. Also honored during the ceremony were: Shanda Busby, sixth-grade teacher at Challenger Intermediate (Goddard USD 265) Todd Flory, fourth-grade teacher at Wheatland Elementary (Andover USD 385) Jamie Sundgren, science teacher at Flinthills Middle School (Flinthills USD 492) Lacey Woods, family and consumer science teacher at Andover Central High School (Andover USD 385) Each semifinalist received a commemorative red marble apple from The Master Teacher in Manhattan. In total, 136 teachers across the state were nominated this year, according to a news release from the Kansas State Department of Education. Regional panels select three elementary and three secondary semifinalists per region, with one finalist from each category moving to the state competition. Finalists in the Kansas Teacher of the Year program serve as education ambassadors, promoting teaching excellence statewide. The selected Kansas Teacher of the Year will also be a candidate for the National Teacher of the Year award. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kansas Legislature yet to approve $875 million in property tax funding for K-12 public schools
A deputy commissioner of the Kansas State Department of Education informed members of the Kansas State Board of Education the 2025 Legislature has yet to approve collection of an estimated $875 million in property taxes to fund public education statewide in 2025-2026. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Board of Education livestream) TOPEKA — The Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature returns to work Thursday after neglecting to perform during the regular part of the 2025 session an annual obligation to affirm collection of $875 million in property taxes to finance public schools statewide. It's assumed by education administrators and advocates the wrap-up portion of the legislative session — typically reserved for attempts to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly — would allow time for passage of a bill clarifying the 2025-2026 funding picture for school districts serving more than 450,000 students throughout the state. 'Unless they fix that this week, that's an $875 million hole in next year's budget,' said Frank Harwood, deputy commissioner of fiscal and administrative services at the Kansas State Department of Education. He said the Legislature could take advantage of the brief end-of-session window to address a bill triggering collection of 20 mills in property tax for public schools. State law requires every school district levy a 20-mill tax on property in their district to help finance public education. This money didn't stay in the taxing district, but was sent to the state to create the pool of money to fund all districts. 'If this doesn't get dealt with, we're going to be coming back for a special session,' said Sen. Cindy Holscher, a Democrat from Overland Park. Without the property tax levy, the Legislature would have to replace the revenue with an appropriation from the general treasury or reduce funding to public school districts. The Legislature risked running afoul of Kansas Supreme Court decisions in the Gannon case that resulted from a finding the Legislature failed to abide by the Kansas Constitution in terms of funding a suitable education for children. Meanwhile, a second education budget issue emerged regarding the Legislature's decision to designate $1.25 million for public schools and $250,000 to private schools for CPR training and to acquire defibrillator or AED equipment. The appropriation, inspired by survival of an Emporia teenager who suffered cardiac arrest, would be drawn from an anticipated increase in base-aid school funding. This category of K-12 funding was adjusted annually based on changes in the Midwest version of the consumer price index for urban consumers or CPI-U. Leah Fliter, assistant executive director of the Kansas Association of School Boards, said CPI-U funding was to be directed to public education, but the state budget presented to the governor directed a portion to private schools. Fliter said the school board association wasn't opposed to state spending for training or equipment to address cardiac emergencies in private schools, but suggested lawmakers ought to select a funding source other than CPI-U aid for public education. 'We are very concerned about that taking of CPI funding for AEDs,' she said. Harwood, the deputy commissioner at the state Department of Education, said questions had been raised about constitutionality of the $250,000 appropriation to private schools. 'Because most of the private schools are parochial, it may actually be a violation of the Constitution because state aid can't go to parochial schools,' Harwood said. The Legislature scheduled work sessions Thursday and Friday in anticipation the governor would issue vetoes. As of Tuesday, Kelly had vetoed 10 bills approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature. The governor has been working through the state budget bill and could make line-item vetoes.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No more FAFSA mandate: Kansas cuts new high school graduation requirement
Kansas education officials nixed a controversial high school graduation requirement less than a year after enacting it. The Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday voted 8-2 to repeal the new requirement that high school students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The FAFSA requirement was added in May 2024 as part of a slate of changes to high school graduation requirements. Those changes were the culmination of years of work to update the minimum graduation requirements for the first time in two decades. But the FAFSA requirement caused consternation among some board members as well as lawmakers on an oversight committee, and the board decided in July to backtrack. Due to the slow speed of the regulatory process, it took until now to formally repeal it. R. Scott Gordon, general counsel for the Kansas State Department of Education, said public comment during the regulatory process was universally opposed to the FAFSA requirement. "It was attached to graduation, to a diploma, and that was not OK for me," said board chair Cathy Hopkins, R-Hays. "Should schools be putting it out there? Absolutely, 100%. Everybody needs to know what's available to them. ... I just don't think it should be a requirement to graduate." Board member Jim Porter, R-Fredonia, was one of the two no votes. He said he had concerns about the FAFSA requirement but had supported it because there were safeguards. "The fact is we have people that believe that we are emphasizing non-college over college, and it's not a zero-sum game," Porter said. "I believe that we're emphasizing both, and I think that removing the FAFSA sort of plays into that scenario. I believe there will be many first-generation students that won't know what their options that would probably have more options had they gone through that process." The graduation requirement had mandated that every student fill out a FAFSA, starting with this academic year's freshman class, unless their parent opted them out or their superintendent exempts them. Educators said the intent was to get students to take advantage of federal financial aid that they may not have known they qualified for had they not applied. Opponents of the idea had suggested that parents shouldn't have to submit information to the federal government, that schools shouldn't have data on whether students completed a FAFSA, that it places a burden on students and families and that it's not an appropriate thing to have as a graduation requirement. State education officials have said they will look to accomplish the goal in a different way, such as through the accreditation process. Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@ Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd. This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas repeals new FAFSA requirement for high school graduation
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Are Wichita-area schools running out of snow days? See what Kansas law says
Wichita school districts students have so far had this week off amid snow and bitter cold. School officials canceled classes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There was no school Monday because it was President's Day. So far this year, including Thursday, Wichita students have been off school eight days because of severe weather. Half of those were in January, with the rest in February. So will they — and students from surrounding districts in similar situations — have to make up days? It may be too soon to tell. Districts have a number of options if they need to make up time, and adding days is only one of them. Kansas Department of Education guidelines require school districts to provide 1,116 hours of instruction, roughly 177 days, with a maximum of 40 virtual learning hours. School days are 6 1/2 hours long. 'Snows days' are not built into the academic calendar, since weather conditions are different every year, but the district has allotted 50 hours to use for weather cancellations, said USD 259 operations division director Fabian Armendariz. If a district uses all of its allotted time, it can add minutes to the day or days to the school year. It also can add staff learning time. For example, although classes are canceled Thursday, all Wichita school staff will report to work for a professional learning day. Such days count as half of the regular instructional time. These days 'offer teachers and staff opportunities to learn new skills, collaborate and develop expertise,' according to the Kansas State Department of Education. 'A regular school day with students attending counts hour for hour. Professional development activities count for 0.5 per hour,' KSDE deputy commissioner Frank Harwood said. The last day of school for Wichita students is May 22. The USD 259 academic calendar lists May 27, 28 and 29 as possible make-up days for inclement weather. Armendariz said these days are a last resort. 'I don't want to say that we are heading in that direction, because I don't think we're there yet, but that is also an option as a last resort this year,' Armendariz said. 'Just want to remind our community that we're doing the best that we can, and we'll try to come up with the best solutions with minimal impact to our community.' Derby, Maize and Valley Center school districts told The Eagle they follow the same procedure as Wichita to make up for instructional hours lost to weather. Asked how the Wichita district has dealt with weather issues in the past, Armendariz said, 'We've never found ourselves in this situation before.' 'I've been dealing with weather and as part of our weather team for the last 15 years, and I haven't encountered a year like this,' Armendariz said. By Tuesday night, Sedgwick County, including Wichita, had seen between 4 and 7 inches of snow. Wind chills between -15 to -25 are forecast in Wichita until Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
