Education Policy Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

Iowa and Utah expand school choice, pass universal ESA laws 0
- Education
- February 5, 2023
The last few weeks have been very good for those in favor of giving parents more options in their children’s educational experiences. First, Iowa, followed by Utah, passed laws creating educational spending accounts (ESA) that will provide state funding for students to attend private schools as well as other education-related expenses. Both states will provide
READ MORE
Curriculum transparency: parents’ right to know what’s being taught, and how 0
- Education
- October 2, 2022
One post-pandemic phenomenon in the realm of public education is parents’ concerns over what is being taught in public schools. It started as parents became more aware of curriculum as they were able to see first-hand what their children were being taught during pandemic-driven distance learning. It came to a head with the protests of
READ MORE
Open enrollment law hardly destroys “representative government”0
- Education
- May 22, 2022
Hyperbolic claims by elected officials are not new to the world of politics. We are all used to office holders making claims that leave us scratching our collective heads. But a recent statement made by Kansas Board of Education member Michelle Dombrosky takes hyperbole, as the saying goes, “to the next level.” Reacting to legislation
READ MORE

More evidence of structural segregation in Kansas public schools 0
- Education
- May 7, 2022
Structural segregation is alive and well in the Kansas public school system, a form of educational redlining manifested and protected by a rigid set of school district boundaries. In a previous blog, I presented local economic data and student performance to show how it exists within the City of Topeka where there are four public
READ MORE
2022 Public Education Fact Book 0
- Education Research
- March 21, 2022
Aside from ACT scores, all data in this Fact Book come from official government sources, including local school districts, the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE), and the U.S. Department of Education. All data are the most current available and, unless otherwise noted, span through the 2020-21 academic year. Additional information (including annual historical data) for
READ MORE
National study’s evidence of structural segregation in public education also true in Kansas 0
- Education, Education Research
- November 28, 2021
Information from the Urban Institute, in a research project titled Dividing Lines, reveals how gerrymandering of attendance zones within school districts reinforces and perpetuates segregation along racial lines in public schools in urban areas across the country. The Urban Institute analyzed student populations in which there was a substantial difference in the racial make-up of adjoining
READ MORE