Trend – Critical Race Theory

OPINION

Kansas City mayor blunders in advising against engagement with ‘bonkers attacks’

BY: - May 30, 2023

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, […]

Progeny executive director Marquetta Atkins

Church and state: Kansas Republicans reject systemic racism while fighting critical race theory

BY: - May 19, 2023

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 […]

Republican governor candidate Derek Schmidt blamed Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly for academic and mental health challenges of K-12 students and for a shortage of teachers in Kansas classrooms. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Church and state: Kansas Republicans justify private school handouts with fear of ‘woke ideology’

BY: - May 17, 2023

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. […]

Members of the Senate, seen here in May 2021, and House begin daily sessions with invocation from a chaplain

Church and state: Republicans revel in divine plan to turn Kansas into ‘conservative sanctuary’

BY: - May 15, 2023

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 […]

OPINION
Freedom Riders Head For Jackson, Mississippi

Kansas lawmakers’ flimsy ‘woke’ narrative melts under heat of civil rights history

BY: - April 16, 2023

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 […]

Stanley Goldfarb, a physician and founder of Do No Harm, asked the Kansas Senate to approve bills banning medical schools from involvement in diversity, equity and inclusion programs, critical race theory and race-based admissions. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from Kansas Legislature YouTube channel)

Physician asks Kansas lawmakers to ban racial diversity programs at medical schools, hospitals

BY: - February 2, 2023

Kansas Legislature welcomes physician seeking state law banning critical race theory, implicit bias and affirmative action from medical education.

OPINION
In the past nine months, hundreds of books across dozens of states are being banned at an alarming rate. A majority of the bans feature books written by authors who are people of color, LGBTQ+, Black and Indigenous, and feature characters from marginalized groups. (Getty Images)

Rep. Jake LaTurner parroted rhetoric about parents’ rights. They have responsibilities, too.

BY: - August 11, 2022

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 […]

Four panelists address critical race theory, gender identity and parental rights during a June 13 event by the Kansas Policy Institute in Overland Park. The panelists, from left, were Dave Trabert, CEO of KPI; Wilfred Reilly, author of “Hate Crime Hoax;” Robert Woodson, a self-described "racial exorcist;" and Mary Miller, a private school advocate. The moderator was Michael Ryan, right, executive editor of The Lion. (Margaret Mellott/Kansas Reflector)

Divisions over Kansas K-12 education spawn misinformation and anxiety at Overland Park forum

BY: - June 26, 2022

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 […]

With the speech and debate nationals right around the corner, Jeff Plinsky helps a student practice an argument on June 8. Plinsky, a teacher and coach at Lawrence High School, said despite the environment for teachers right now, his students bring a bright spot to his job. (Submitted)

‘Death by 1,000 cuts’: Kansas teachers demoralized by current environment

BY: - June 16, 2022

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 […]

OPINION
Most if not all the important provisions in the Kansas Legislature's Parents' Bill of Rights are already in place, writes Rabbi Moti Rieber. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Parents’ Bill of Rights bill disguises moral panic as responsible legislating

BY: - March 18, 2022

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

BY: - March 9, 2022

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 […]

OPINION

With the Legislature back in session, here are five big issues for Kansans to follow

BY: - March 1, 2022

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 […]