Watch the full program.
Online video: The Local Show Charter Schools Special
TLS Education .
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Outside the Box: Jim Hinson and the Independence School District
Should you be required to live where you work? The Independence School District thinks so.
A new residency rule is shaking up their top staff. About 60 principals, assistant principals and other Independence School District administrators who live outside the district are now going to have to start house hunting.
A policy just passed by the school board forces administrators to live in the district by February 2015. The idea was insisted upon by superintendent Dr Jim Hinson. But why?
It is just one of the headline grabbing stories that has put Hinson in the news of late. He’s also seen himself on the Today Show and Good Morning America in the last several weeks as the district opts to enroll more than a dozen of its most obese students in a 28 thousand dollar a semester weight loss camp in South Carolina.
Dr. Hinson sat down with Nick Haines on The Local Show.
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performARTS: Paul Mesner Puppets
Twenty-five years. That’s how long Paul Mesner and his puppets have been a part of the Kansas City arts scene. In fact, old favorites like Anansi the Spider, Rapunzel, and Wiley & The Hairy Man are now playing to a whole new generation of metro youngsters. But Paul’s act also spends a lot of time on the road and on some projects that might surprise you as Randy Mason discovers in this installment of our performARTS series, in conjunction with KC Studio Magazine.
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A Primer for Parents: The ABCs of Charter Schools
Twenty years ago the charter school movement began with the passage of legislation in the state of Minnesota. City Academy High School in St. Paul was opened in an effort to provide choice and competition, starting what would become a national movement. In 1998, Missouri joined the charter ranks. Today, nearly 20,000 Missouri students are enrolled in 51 charters. Kansas City alone has over 20 charter schools with nearly 9,000 enrolled students. In fact, Kansas City ranks fourth in the nation behind only New Orleans, the District of Columbia, and Detroit with a 32 percent market share. That means almost 1 in 3 Kansas City Missouri school district kids go to a charter school. Despite these large numbers, few people are aware of the true significance of charters and many questions remain unanswered. Although national documentaries such as The Lottery and Waiting for Superman have brought additional light to the presence of charter schools, and even the Obama Administration’s “Race to the Top” education reform plan prominently features them, many questions remain unanswered. What, exactly, are charters? How do they function in Kansas City? And, most importantly, what are they doing to help improve education for Kansas City’s students?
On September 1 at 7 pm, KCPT will air a special on charter schools that will answer these questions and provide a balanced look into the nation’s hottest education topic. Featuring interviews and a panel composed of lawmakers, school board members, a union representative, journalists, non-profit leaders and educators, KCPT will lead the way in an essential and engaging discussion about what we need to do to finally fix our city’s biggest problem: education.
With all the confusion about charter schools, The Local Show tries to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions. Are charter schools free? Can a charter school charge tuition? Can anyone attend a charter school? Can a charter school restrict admission for any reason? Do charter school teachers have to be certified?
Can anyone open a charter school? Do charter schools get the same amount of money to educate a child as a traditional public school? We tackle these questions and more on this special edition of The Local Show.
Joining the conversation…
Munro Richardson, Kauffman Foundation
Andrea Flinders, President of Kansas City Federation of Teachers
Rep. Tishaura Jones (D), Missouri House of Representatives
Sen. David Pearce (R), Missouri State Senate
Douglas Thaman, Executive Director – Missouri Charter Public School Association
Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star
Jerry Cooper, Director – UMKC School of Education
Arthur Benson, Sub-District 1 – KCMO School Board
Airick L. West, President – KCMO School Board
Bart Goering, Ph.D., Superintendent – Spring Hill School District
Dave Cozad, Board President – Académie Lafayette
Resources:
Missouri Charter Schools Basic Facts & Information
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
National Center for Education Statistics
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Progress in Perspective: Oral History of Lynchings and Forgiveness
In a week in which we mark the Martin Luther King Day holiday, we are reminded that, despite great strides in racial equality, there are still Kansas Citians who remember vividly a shameful chapter in American history including a time when lynchings were a commonplace occurrence in America.
Before the generation of people who remember such atrocities dies off, a Kansas City scholar is trying to record eye-witness accounts and what she’s finding is not just graphic photos and consuming hate, but the ability of some of those most affected to forgive.
The PBS series Religion and Ethics Newsweekly recently came to Kansas City to report on that work. Bob Faw filed that report for the PBS series Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, which runs Sunday afternoons at 1:30 on KCPT.
WARNING: This report contains some disturbing images. Viewer discretion is advised.
Watch Lynching and Forgiveness on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.
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Reinventing the Community College: Terry Calaway
We begin this week with a question: Which is the largest institution of higher education in our bi-state area? Is it KU or MU? You might be surprised to learn that it’s actually neither.
With more than 50,000 students enrolled in credit and continuing education classes each semester, Johnson County Community College is now the largest institution of higher education in either Kansas or Missouri.
And after 5 years at the helm, JCCC’s President Terry Calaway has announced he is retiring. Along with increased enrollment, Calaway is credited with bringing a lot of novel programs to JCCC which is consistently ranked as one of the best community colleges in the country.
People no doubt have heard about the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art which was added during his watch, but the college is also getting national attention for its culinary program which will open its own culinary academy and innovative demonstration kitchen next year. Dr Calaway sat down for a conversation with Nick Haines.
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Rewarding Geographic Literacy: National Geographic Bee
Where in the world am I? Apparently, many students in the United States have no idea.
In a 2006 Roper survey, it was found that students in the U.S. fail to understand their world and their place in it. Of Americans aged 18 to 24, seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel on a map. Nine in ten couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map of Asia. And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa.
The 2002 project also surveyed 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and Great Britain. The U.S. trailed every other country in that survey, except Mexico, which did only slightly worse. Even for U.S. geography, the survey results are just as dismal. Half could not find New York State on a map of the United States. A third of the respondents could not find Louisiana, and 48 percent couldn’t locate Mississippi on a map of the United States, even though Hurricane Katrina put these southeastern states in the spotlight in 2005. About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn’t even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean’s location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent.
In order to spark interest in the subject, National Geographic hosts the National Geographic Bee to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge.
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the National Geographic Bee, a nation-wide geography competition in Washington, D.C. for students in 4th through 8th grade. In that quarter century, about two percent of the competitors are girls and only two girls have won the $25,000 first prize scholarship. Education reporter Lindsey Foat sat down with two local finalists Prani Nalluri and Aviral Misra.
The National Geographic Bee will be shown on KCPT the day after the competition, Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m.
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Scholarly, Culturally Literate & Service-Oriented: Crossroads Academy
This week, you might say the theme is school, or what we do when it finally lets out for the summer!
We’ll start by introducing you to a new charter school that lots of us are just beginning to learn about–The Crossroads Academy. Sponsored by the University of Central Missouri, it is wrapping up its first year in operation, offering grades K-5. Eventually, they’ll expand to K-8.
Despite the name, you won’t find it in the Crossroads. This school that embraces what they term 21st Century Learning is actually smack dab in the middle of downtown.
Crossroads Academy, by the way, defines the boundaries of downtown for its student body as the Missouri River to Linwood, State Line to Woodland. Classes for next year, including the addition of 6th grade classes, are already filled up. There is currently a waiting list.
Coverage of downtown stories provided in part by the Downtown Council of Kansas City.
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Striking a Match: myEDmatch.com Founders Munro Richardson & Alicia Herald
The school year is winding down for most students, but for school administrators it is prime time for hiring teachers for the fall.
Did you know that 30 percent of new teachers quit after three years on the job and half of them quit the classroom within five years? The biggest reason for leaving? According to the Gates Foundation, the answer is not pay, though I’m sure most teachers wouldn’t say no to a a salary increase, and it’s not because they don’t like teaching anymore. The biggest reason, the Gates Foundation claims, is they don’t like the school they’re teaching in because it is a bad fit. Enter: myEDmatch.com.
If online dating works so well for people looking for love and happiness, can it work to match teachers with schools? That is the premise being pioneered by two local leaders in education in Kansas City: former Kauffman Foundation Vice President Munro Richardson and Teach for America Kansas City head Alicia Herald, who both quit their jobs to launch this job matching start up.
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Midwest Parent Educators (MPE)
Homeschooling in the State of Missouri
Homeschooling in the State of Kansas
Lee’s Summit Home Educators
Families for Home Education
Too Cool For School: The Rise of Homeschooling
What is the fastest growing segment of American education?
You will probably be surprised to hear that it is homeschooling, which is growing by some estimates at seven percent a year. While religion is still the biggest factor in why parents home educate, there are many other reasons including anything from a focus on science to just spending more time together as a family.
KCPT’s special correspondent Sam Zeff has been looking into this education expansion in our region.
Local Homeschooling Resources:
