Trend – Critical Race Theory
Kansas City mayor blunders in advising against engagement with ‘bonkers attacks’
I don’t look to start beefs for the sake of starting beefs, but Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas wrote a couple of tweets the other week that bothered me. “In recent days, you may have noticed that certain statewide candidates have started posting bonkers attacks on large swaths of Missourians — typically Black people, […]
Church and state: Kansas Republicans reject systemic racism while fighting critical race theory
WICHITA — When Marquetta Atkins was 7 or 8 years old and the subject of slavery came up at school, she was the only Black child in the classroom. Everyone would turn and look at her as though she were a slave. “If I can be subjected to something like that, why can’t your kids […]
Church and state: Kansas Republicans justify private school handouts with fear of ‘woke ideology’
TOPEKA — Adam Peters, GOP chairman in Ellis County, draws a parallel between the average Kansas fourth-grader and Janissaries of the 16th century Ottoman feudal system. The Ottoman empire ripped Christian children from their parents, raised the children as Muslims and turned them into elite warriors, sometimes sending them back to fight their own families. […]
Church and state: Republicans revel in divine plan to turn Kansas into ‘conservative sanctuary’
TOPEKA — Adam Peters laced his sermon for Reno County Republicans with conspiracy theories about a liberal plot to turn their children against them, LGBTQ-friendly church pastors who signed a contract with Satan, the ubiquitous travesty of critical race theory, and make-believe enemies working to “foment violent conflict.” Peters, the GOP chairman in Ellis County […]
Kansas lawmakers’ flimsy ‘woke’ narrative melts under heat of civil rights history
Kansas legislative leaders have shrieked for weeks about a supposed wild-left “woke” agenda, promising an alternate agenda moored in the protection of mores that remain perfectly safe. They use phrases like “sexualized, woke agenda,” and “radicalized woke agenda.” The term “woke,” as used by Kansas legislators, seems to serve as shorthand for liberation efforts running […]
Physician asks Kansas lawmakers to ban racial diversity programs at medical schools, hospitals
Kansas Legislature welcomes physician seeking state law banning critical race theory, implicit bias and affirmative action from medical education.
Rep. Jake LaTurner parroted rhetoric about parents’ rights. They have responsibilities, too.
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Chris Huntsman taught in Kansas schools for 36 years. I write, as a retired teacher, to dispute U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner’s proclaimed need for a parents’ bill […]
Divisions over Kansas K-12 education spawn misinformation and anxiety at Overland Park forum
OVERLAND PARK — As she sat in the back of the conference room, behind rows and rows of people, she listened to this panel of four talk about Kansas classrooms. How long have the people on this panel spent in public schools, she wondered. More specifically, how long have they spent in Kansas ones? This […]
‘Death by 1,000 cuts’: Kansas teachers demoralized by current environment
TOPEKA — Caught in a political crossfire and exhausted from the pandemic, Kansas teachers are putting down their books and leaving the profession. In a survey from the National Education Association, 55% of teachers indicated they were ready to leave the classroom. As of April 12, there were 1,381 teacher vacancies in Kansas, according to […]
Parents’ Bill of Rights bill disguises moral panic as responsible legislating
The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Rabbi Moti Rieber is executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, a statewide, multifaith issue-advocacy organization that works on a variety of social, economic and climate justice […]
Senate panel backs educational bill of rights for Kansas parents
TOPEKA — A Kansas Senate panel approved Tuesday legislation establishing an educational bill of rights for parents of public school children. The bill is aimed at the idea of educational transparency and ensuring parents have increased access to and oversight of their child’s curriculum and materials. Modeled after recommendations of the conservative Heritage Foundation in […]
With the Legislature back in session, here are five big issues for Kansans to follow
The Kansas Legislature has returned! You’d be forgiven for not knowing it was gone in the first place, but the House and Senate took most of a week off after turnaround. That’s the (largely hypothetical) date when each chamber finishes work on its bills and sends the legislation to the other chamber. In reality, leaders […]