Kansas.com: Education

Teens' artificial trees will store CO2

MARA ROSE WILLIAMS — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

When is a tree that acts like a tree not a tree at all?

When it's a metal tower that absorbs, transforms and stores carbon dioxide and is made by two teenage math and science whizzes as a research project on climate change.

Tyler Clark, 17, of St. John, and Ben Davis, 16, of Wichita, both high school juniors attending the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science at Fort Hays State University, expect to build the "artificial tree towers."

Stimulus keeps college tuition down

LORI YOUNT — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:23 CST

With all state universities raising tuition this year, Kansas college students might have suffered sticker shock.

Increases in credit-hour costs could have doubled if not for federal stimulus money.

"They saved our lives," said Jill Docking, chairwoman of the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees higher education institutions. "We would've had layoffs at our universities."

Schools save programs but hurt chance for federal aid

LORI YOUNT — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:50 CST

Despite an infusion of $159 million into Kansas schools this quarter, education leaders said it has helped them only to maintain the status quo.

Kansas schools have so far spent federal stimulus dollars to maintain staff and programs that were threatened by state budget cuts — a move education officials said could put them out of the running for $4 billion in competitive federal grants in the coming months.

In the Wichita school district, about 400 jobs — mostly teachers and teacher trainers — were kept off the chopping block, said chief financial officer Linda Jones.

Area schools find music helps kids hustle to class

SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:11 CST

When kids at Truesdell Middle School hustle to class in the morning, they do it to "The Hustle."

North High students speed up when they hear the "William Tell Overture."

And the Pioneers at West High get rollin'-rollin'-rollin' to the theme from "Rawhide."

District may join 'fair-funding' group

LORI YOUNT — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

The Wichita school district may join dozens of other districts that have decided before to sue the state over lack of funding.

The Wichita school board is set to decide whether to increase the district's influence — and membership dues — in an organization of school districts that has successfully sued the state.

Board members will vote at their regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday on whether to pay $89,294 to become a full member of Schools for Fair Funding. Full membership would give the district the ability to vote.

Regents seek ways to educate workers

LORI YOUNT — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:03 CST

As Kansas tries to increase the national profile of its state universities and cope with state budget cuts, higher education leaders said they want to know how to provide Kansas businesses with better prepared workers.

Several Wichita business leaders and legislators met Tuesday with representatives from the Kansas Board of Regents at the Wichita Area Technical College campus at Jabara Airport to discuss goals and challenges of higher education.

"We're not here to talk or whine about money," said Jill Docking, chairwoman of the nine-member regents board. "We're here to talk about how we can pull ourselves out of the recession."

Can reducing the number of school districts solve state budget woes?

JEANNINE KORANDA — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:56 CST

TOPEKA — Kansas has 293 school districts ranging in size from West Solomon Valley in northwest Kansas with 39 students to Wichita with 49,744 students.

With state funds dwindling and more budget cuts looming, some lawmakers are starting to discuss whether some of those districts should combine to help save money.

"School consolidation has been on the minds of legislators and all people associated with policy making for quite some time because the current number of districts and the number of students we have doesn't make sense," said Rep. Jason Watkins, R-Wichita, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Report: Kansas test results average

JOHN MILBURN — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:08 CDT

TOPEKA — A federal report released Thursday places Kansas academic standards near the middle of the pack when compared with a benchmark national test.

Thursday's report by the National Center for Education Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Education, looked at test results from 2005 and 2007 from 47 states.

The report compared state achievement levels with achievement levels on the National Assessment of Education Progress, also considered a national report card of progress.

Credit union opens branch inside Southeast High School

SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:18 CDT

Starting this week, students at Southeast High School can open a savings or checking account, use their debit card or apply for a zero-interest laptop loan at school.

Credit Union of America's new Buffalo Branch — named for the school's mascot — is the first bank branch inside a Wichita high school.

"This evolved from a very simple request: How can we do more... to teach fiscal literacy and support financial responsibility?" said Leroy Parks, principal at Southeast.

Districts facing stricter graduation rate goals for funding

LORI YOUNT — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:38 CDT

Going back to high school seemed "pretty crazy" to 20-year-old Louis Arnett.

"Then I thought, 'Do I want to be a dropout forever?' " said Arnett, a Wichita East High School senior.

So, in August, Arnett walked up to the enrollment table at East High. He received a few curious looks.

Education may face more cuts

JOHN HANNA — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:09 CDT

TOPEKA — New students in Kansas' public schools and declining property values have punched what could become a $70 million hole in the state's already shaky budget, a top education official confirmed Friday.

Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis said Kansas faces being short in its ability to meet its legal obligations for providing aid to its 293 school districts during the current academic year. That's true even though the state already has reduced its per-pupil aid by 4.8 percent this year.

It's more bad news for state officials who already must deal with lower-than-anticipated tax collections in July, August and September. They face lowering per-pupil aid to schools further, making cuts in other parts of the budget or even raising taxes.

Hawaii parents object to statewide school closing

MARK NIESSE — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:09 CDT

HONOLULU — Hundreds of angry parents protested Hawaii's statewide public school shutdown Friday, saying their children are losing out on education because of government budget cuts.

Hawaii closed 256 public schools Friday, the first of 17 teacher furlough days planned for this school year, giving the island state the shortest school year in the nation at 163 days. Most states have 180 school days.

While the parents waved signs and passed petitions at the state Capitol rally, their children wrote postcards to lawmakers and drew posters at arts and crafts tables.

Wichita man leaves KU $2.5 million for scholarships

JEANNINE KORANDA — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:09 CDT

Longtime Wichita businessman and University of Kansas alumnus Paul Brooker's estate has donated $2.5 million to the school's endowment for scholarships.

The money will create two scholarships, one in his name and one named for him and his first wife, Mildred Hoffman, the KU Endowment office said in a written announcement on Wednesday.

"My parents were a really neat couple," his daughter Diane Wingate said in the announcement. "They got so much out of KU. I think they just wanted to give something back to the university."

Official: Colleges don't prepare teachers

LIBBY QUAID — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:09 CDT

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is calling for an overhaul of college programs that prepare teachers, saying they are cash cows that do a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the classroom.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for "revolutionary change" in these programs, which prepare at least 80 percent of the nation's teachers.

In a speech prepared for delivery today, Duncan said he has talked to hundreds of great young teachers while serving as Chicago schools chief and later as President Obama's schools chief. The teachers have two complaints about education schools, he said.

Parents, educators, students seek solutions to dropout problem

LORI YOUNT — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:29 CDT

When Courtnie Ochs had to repeat ninth grade for the third time, she just stopped going to school.

She said repeated absences and relocation because of court probation for truancy violations prevented her from earning course credits.

"School wasn't fun for me," said Courtnie, a 17-year-old from Garden City. "The only thing for me to do is get into trouble" outside of school.

KSU president works to improve transparency

JOHN HANNA — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:05 CDT

TOPEKA — Kansas State University's new president promised Thursday that the university will spell out next month how it plans to deal with issues raised by a state audit disclosing questionable financial transactions.

President Kirk Schulz said Thursday he's already taken steps to restructure the athletic department's administration because of the audit. Those steps included greater oversight by the board of directors of the nonprofit corporation running athletic programs and having its legal business handled by the university's general counsel.

Schulz, who became president in June, the same month the audit was released, spoke to the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees the higher education system. He said he's asked alumni and others to give him until June 2010 to restore their confidence that university officials are good fiscal stewards.

Goddard school chief puts off his retirement

LORI YOUNT — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:05 CDT

The Goddard school board has asked superintendent Charles Edmonds to postpone his retirement for one year so he can continue to lead the suburban school district through tough budget years and the opening of new schools.

Edmonds announced earlier this year he would retire at the end of this school year, but the board on Tuesday pushed back that date to June 30, 2011.

Edmonds accepted the extended contract on the condition he receive a 1.25 percent salary reduction, according to a news release from the school district.

Smart start for kids

LORI YOUNT — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:03 CDT

A unique early-childhood program is helping low-income students enter Wichita-area schools prepared to learn, according to data released by the Opportunity Project, or TOP.

TOP administrators on Thursday gave Gov. Mark Parkinson and community leaders a tour of one of the program's two Early Learning Centers, where students 1 to 5 years old receive eight to 10 hours of instruction a day.

Administrators announced evaluation scores that they said show children in the program, which was established nine years ago, are significantly more capable in behavioral and academic areas than their peers.

State gives 127 excellence awards to Wichita schools

LORI YOUNT — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:04 CDT

Harry Street Elementary School principal Stacie Meyer couldn't remember the banner from 2003-04 — the last time students scored well enough on state assessments to earn the title "standard of excellence."

But she already knows what she wants to do with the banners to recognize the third-graders who earned the label in reading and math tests they took in the spring.

"We'll put the banners out in the hall, where they can really see them," instead of the front entrance of the school, Meyer said.

School board approves teachers' contract

LORI YOUNT — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:07 CDT

About 5,700 Wichita school district employees are now working under contract changes negotiated in a tough budget year, including a pay freeze and changes in health insurance benefits.

The school board unanimously approved new contracts with teachers and service employees Monday night. Both unions had rejected previous proposals from the district, but members voted to ratify tentative agreements reached after mediation last month.

Teachers agreed to a two-year contract that includes a pay freeze in exchange for fewer professional development days. They ratified it reluctantly last week, as evidenced by a lower-than-usual voter turnout, United Teachers of Wichita president Larry Landwehr reiterated Monday.