As the follow-up to an earlier examination of the frequency and outcomes trends of published court decisions under the IDEA for P-12 students, this updated analysis covers the 25-year period ending on December 31, 2022. The frequency trend for the most recent 10 years reversed the upward trajectory of the previous 15 years. The outcomes trend for…

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a legal framework that originated in the 1970s intending to challenge legal scholarship to consider the historical and present impact and causes of structural inequality and racism. CRT is an academic lens primarily used at the doctoral level and is not a defined curriculum or something outlined in the Kansas State…

Both pre-service and practicing educators are entering classrooms with limited preparation for the social landscape, affecting a range of professional considerations such as educational equity, culturally responsive teaching, and effective assessment. In an effort to consider greater impact and meaningful development of teachers for social justice…

Kansas ranks in the top 10 states for graduation rates among students with disabilities. In fact, special education graduation rates in Kansas have improved more than overall graduation rates. And noted earlier in this report, test scores among special education students in Kansas declined just 1% during the pandemic, well below the test score…

This guidance document was created to help support schools as they begin to formulate their plans for re-entry into the 2020-2021 school year. The purpose of this document is not to prescribe what schools should do, but rather what considerations and discussions should happen in schools as they plan to support their students and communities as…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) obligates school districts to identify students with disabilities and provide them with a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), which includes specially designed instruction. Identification, FAPE, least restrictive environment (LRE), and various other issues under the IDEA sometimes…

Pennsylvania has historically operated one of the nation's least equitable state school finance systems, and within that system exist some of the nation's most fiscally disadvantaged public school districts. The persistent inequalities of Pennsylvania's school finance system are not entirely a result of simple lack of effort, as policies intended…

About 50 miles east of Topeka, Kansas, in what is now the suburban town of Merriam sits South Park Elementary School. Built in 1947 for white children at a cost of $90,000, the school at that time showcased eight modern classrooms, a multi-purpose auditorium, a lunchroom, and playground. Today, the building serves as a monument to a struggle for…

This article addresses the design and application of cost adjustments in state school finance policies intended to compensate local public school districts for differences in the costs of recruiting and retaining teachers. Broadly speaking, the state policy objective for including cost adjustments to state aid for such things as teacher cost…

The financial plan presented in this paper removes some of the current inequities of the property tax through the following basic features: a per pupil expenditure lid up to which the State provides aid; an equalized assessment rate which is enforced; State aid distributed on the basis of the wealth of the district in comparison to the wealth of…

The Kansas state plan for the education of homeless youth and children provides operational strategies to help local school districts and attendance centers facilitate an environment that is conducive to meeting this population's special needs. The plan confronts barriers to homeless children and youth to provide them with public education that is…