Kansas

U.S.
Rank

#33
Overall PPI Score:
62.9%
PPI Grade Key:
← Back to Kansas state overview
A
B
C
D
F
  • Opportunity
  • Innovation
  • Policy Environment

Score:

55%

Grade:

F

Rank:

#44

Another law in name only, attempts to open up the environment have repeatedly been rebuffed by an embrace of the status quo.

Fast Facts:

Law passed: 1994

Most recently amended: 2002

Number of charter schools: 10

Number of charter students: 3195

Cap on the number of schools allowed:? No

Virtual charters allowed? Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS: School districts are the sole authorizers with approval by the State Board of Education.

GROWTH: Kansas does not cap the number of charter schools, but there has been no growth in the state’s charter sector in recent years. The district-controlled authorizing makes growth unlikely.

OPERATIONS: Charter schools receive no blanket exemptions from regulations that affect district schools. Instead, they must request exemptions from specific regulations, including collective bargaining agreements, in their applications, which is why there are so few schools or applicants.

EQUITY: The state’s charter law does not address charter school funding at all. This leaves funding decisions entirely to district authorizers, which inevitably leads to inequity.

Learn More:

Kansas Charter School Law

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 2014

Number of programs: 1

Statewide Participation: 369

Types of programs: Tax Credit Scholarship, Individual Tax Credit, Education Savings Account

Choice Laws & Analysis:

Tax-Credit Scholarship
Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program
Kansas’ tax- credit scholarship program was enacted in 2014 to serve low-income students in low- performing schools. This program gives individuals and businesses that donate to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) 70% tax credit value. The scholarship amount is capped at $8,000 per-student. Students are eligible if their family income is not above 100% of the free lunch program, and they must be assigned to one of the 100 lowest-performing schools in the state.

Learn More:

EdChoice Analysis on Kansas

Federation for Children Choice Program Information

2019 ALEC Report Card on American Education

Score:

67%

Grade:

D

Rank:

#40

Does not have any specific policies in place that offer teachers additional compensation based on evidence of effectiveness, but has eliminated tenure.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 69%
General Teacher Preparation 62%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 60%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 90%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 62%
Alternate Routes 70%  

STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 69%
Hiring 75%
Retaining Effective Teachers 63%

TEACHER EVALUATION: 68%

TEACHER COMPENSATION: 62%

Learn More:

National Council for Teacher Quality State Teacher Policy Database

Score:

55%

Grade:

F

Rank:

#44

Another law in name only, attempts to open up the environment have repeatedly been rebuffed by an embrace of the status quo.

Fast Facts:

Law passed: 1994

Most recently amended: 2002

Number of charter schools: 10

Number of charter students: 3195

Cap on the number of schools allowed:? No

Virtual charters allowed? Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS: School districts are the sole authorizers with approval by the State Board of Education.

GROWTH: Kansas does not cap the number of charter schools, but there has been no growth in the state’s charter sector in recent years. The district-controlled authorizing makes growth unlikely.

OPERATIONS: Charter schools receive no blanket exemptions from regulations that affect district schools. Instead, they must request exemptions from specific regulations, including collective bargaining agreements, in their applications, which is why there are so few schools or applicants.

EQUITY: The state’s charter law does not address charter school funding at all. This leaves funding decisions entirely to district authorizers, which inevitably leads to inequity.

Learn More:

Kansas Charter School Law

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 2014

Number of programs: 1

Statewide Participation: 369

Types of programs: Tax Credit Scholarship, Individual Tax Credit, Education Savings Account

Choice Laws & Analysis:

Tax-Credit Scholarship
Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program
Kansas’ tax- credit scholarship program was enacted in 2014 to serve low-income students in low- performing schools. This program gives individuals and businesses that donate to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) 70% tax credit value. The scholarship amount is capped at $8,000 per-student. Students are eligible if their family income is not above 100% of the free lunch program, and they must be assigned to one of the 100 lowest-performing schools in the state.

Learn More:

EdChoice Analysis on Kansas

Federation for Children Choice Program Information

2019 ALEC Report Card on American Education

Score:

67%

Grade:

D

Rank:

#40

Does not have any specific policies in place that offer teachers additional compensation based on evidence of effectiveness, but has eliminated tenure.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 69%
General Teacher Preparation 62%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 60%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 90%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 62%
Alternate Routes 70%  

STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 69%
Hiring 75%
Retaining Effective Teachers 63%

TEACHER EVALUATION: 68%

TEACHER COMPENSATION: 62%

Learn More:

National Council for Teacher Quality State Teacher Policy Database

Digital Learning:

Score:

82%

Grade:

B

Rank:

#9

Kansas has shown their commitment to increasing opportunities for digital learning through their various programs and initiatives in the state.  The Kansas DOE provides resources on technology planning, tools afor educators, and information on equitable access through the Kansas Partnership for Accessible Technology. 

The Kansas Connect & Learn Initiative is a partnership between KDOE and EducationSuperHighway to close the connectivity gap in schools. Between 2013 and 2018, 40.7% of students gained high-speed internet access and 94% of schools without scalable infrastructure have upgraded to fiber-optic connections.

Kansas Online Learning Program is open to K-12 students, as well as adult learners who have not received their diploma. Kansas Online Learning Program is free to all residents in the state and expands educational opportunities for many.

The state also has 91 accredited virtual school programs that span from elementary to adult learning and provide courses for various reasons such as general education, credit recovery, and summer school programs. 

Kansas’ Blue Valley Unified School District 229 is a member of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, giving over 20,000 students digital learning opportunities. The League of Innovative Schools is a network of school leaders in 114 districts in 34 states that aim to enhance and scale digital learning opportunities for students across the nation.  

Bandwidth: “100% of students in Kansas can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds.”

Personalized Learning:

Although there is no statewide effort, some school districts are using personalized learning in their classrooms. The Kansas Can School Redesign project aims to personalize student learning and focuses on 4 driving principles: Personalized Learning, Student Success Skills, Community Partnership, and Real World Applications. Online Learning Platforms is also an important piece of the project, which helps drive personalized instruction for students. There are currently 66 school districts participating. 

Learn More:

Connect & Learn Initiative

Kansas Online Learning Program

League of Innovative Schools

Kansas Can School Redesign

On March 18, Kansas was one of the first to close all schools for the remainder of the school year. On March 27, guidelines for continuous learning were released which emphasized the term Continuous Learning, and asked schools to refrain from using “distance learning” or “virtual learning” and promoted “Less is More” as the best approach. The education department created a Continuous Learning Task Force to develop plans for moving education online. The intention for all students to continue to learn in the wake of the crisis is clear, but the state was unprepared on how districts should provide that and, as a result, education was delivered unevenly.

Kansas failed to provide any technological resources to students who needed them from the state level. Districts were instructed to reach out to providers to see if accommodations could be made, but resources were not committed to getting devices or internet access to those who need them most for successful continuous learning.

Fast Facts

4th Grade Math Proficiency:

40%

8th Grade Math Proficiency:

33%

12th Grade Math Proficiency:

24% (nat'l average)

4th Grade Reading Proficiency:

34%

8th Grade Reading Proficiency:

32%

12th Grade Reading Proficiency:

37% (nat'l average)

Graduation Rate:

87%

Average SAT Score:

1237/1600

Average ACT Score:

20.4/36

Public School Enrollment:

486,666

Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:

0.7

Average Student Funding:

$11,653.00
Digital Learning:

Score:

82%

Grade:

B

Rank:

#9

Kansas has shown their commitment to increasing opportunities for digital learning through their various programs and initiatives in the state.  The Kansas DOE provides resources on technology planning, tools afor educators, and information on equitable access through the Kansas Partnership for Accessible Technology. 

The Kansas Connect & Learn Initiative is a partnership between KDOE and EducationSuperHighway to close the connectivity gap in schools. Between 2013 and 2018, 40.7% of students gained high-speed internet access and 94% of schools without scalable infrastructure have upgraded to fiber-optic connections.

Kansas Online Learning Program is open to K-12 students, as well as adult learners who have not received their diploma. Kansas Online Learning Program is free to all residents in the state and expands educational opportunities for many.

The state also has 91 accredited virtual school programs that span from elementary to adult learning and provide courses for various reasons such as general education, credit recovery, and summer school programs. 

Kansas’ Blue Valley Unified School District 229 is a member of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, giving over 20,000 students digital learning opportunities. The League of Innovative Schools is a network of school leaders in 114 districts in 34 states that aim to enhance and scale digital learning opportunities for students across the nation.  

Bandwidth: “100% of students in Kansas can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds.”

Personalized Learning:

Although there is no statewide effort, some school districts are using personalized learning in their classrooms. The Kansas Can School Redesign project aims to personalize student learning and focuses on 4 driving principles: Personalized Learning, Student Success Skills, Community Partnership, and Real World Applications. Online Learning Platforms is also an important piece of the project, which helps drive personalized instruction for students. There are currently 66 school districts participating. 

Learn More:

Connect & Learn Initiative

Kansas Online Learning Program

League of Innovative Schools

Kansas Can School Redesign

On March 18, Kansas was one of the first to close all schools for the remainder of the school year. On March 27, guidelines for continuous learning were released which emphasized the term Continuous Learning, and asked schools to refrain from using “distance learning” or “virtual learning” and promoted “Less is More” as the best approach. The education department created a Continuous Learning Task Force to develop plans for moving education online. The intention for all students to continue to learn in the wake of the crisis is clear, but the state was unprepared on how districts should provide that and, as a result, education was delivered unevenly.

Kansas failed to provide any technological resources to students who needed them from the state level. Districts were instructed to reach out to providers to see if accommodations could be made, but resources were not committed to getting devices or internet access to those who need them most for successful continuous learning.

4th Grade Math Proficiency:

40%

8th Grade Math Proficiency:

33%

12th Grade Math Proficiency:

24% (nat’l average)

4th Grade Reading Proficiency:

34%

8th Grade Reading Proficiency:

32%

12th Grade Reading Proficiency:

37% (nat’l average)

Graduation Rate:

87%

Average SAT Score:

1237/1600

Average ACT Score:

20.4/36

Public School Enrollment:

486,666

Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:

0.7

Average Student Funding:

$11,653.00
Your governor:

Laura Kelly (D)

First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)

Governor Laura Kelly has made it clear she is not a supporter of parental choice, and though she hasn’t been as outspoken about charters, it is clear she is not an advocate of those either. Unfortunately for Kansas families, their Governor doesn’t seem to want them to be able to have the opportunities in education they deserve. Some of her top donors are unions.

State Legislature:

Both the House and Senate are Republican-controlled, and many members purport to be pro-parent, but there are essentially no efforts to enact any new programs in the state, or improve on the ones they have. They consistently have one of the worst-ranked charter laws in the country, and the legislature should be pursuing improvements for families in Kansas.

“The Kansas Constitution contains a Compelled Support Clause and a Blaine Amendment but neither has received much judicial attention. Relative to other states’ variations, the scope of the Kansas Blaine Amendment is very limited; it only prevents religious sects from controlling public educational funds.” (Institute for Justice)

Learn More:

Institute for Justice: Kansas School Choice and State Constitution

School report cards are highlighted on the main page of Kansas’ DOE website. Data is easy to understand and visually appealing through their use of charts and colors, but it requires navigating through multiple menus and links to be able to find what you’re looking for. Report includes data on performance, teacher quality, demographics, and enrollment. Educational options are also easily accessible by clicking Teaching and Learning, then School Choice.

School board elections are during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.

Your governor:

Laura Kelly (D)

First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)

Governor Laura Kelly has made it clear she is not a supporter of parental choice, and though she hasn’t been as outspoken about charters, it is clear she is not an advocate of those either. Unfortunately for Kansas families, their Governor doesn’t seem to want them to be able to have the opportunities in education they deserve. Some of her top donors are unions.

State Legislature:

Both the House and Senate are Republican-controlled, and many members purport to be pro-parent, but there are essentially no efforts to enact any new programs in the state, or improve on the ones they have. They consistently have one of the worst-ranked charter laws in the country, and the legislature should be pursuing improvements for families in Kansas.

“The Kansas Constitution contains a Compelled Support Clause and a Blaine Amendment but neither has received much judicial attention. Relative to other states’ variations, the scope of the Kansas Blaine Amendment is very limited; it only prevents religious sects from controlling public educational funds.” (Institute for Justice)

Learn More:

Institute for Justice: Kansas School Choice and State Constitution

School report cards are highlighted on the main page of Kansas’ DOE website. Data is easy to understand and visually appealing through their use of charts and colors, but it requires navigating through multiple menus and links to be able to find what you’re looking for. Report includes data on performance, teacher quality, demographics, and enrollment. Educational options are also easily accessible by clicking Teaching and Learning, then School Choice.

School board elections are during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.

Select Your State

Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools, open by choice, free from most rules and regulations that hamper traditional public schools and held accountable for results.

Since 1991, when charter schools were first established in Minnesota, the principle has remained the same — increased operational autonomy in exchange for increased accountability for outcomes. This freedom to innovate allows academically excellent charter schools to flourish.

As of 2020, there were more than 7,300 charter schools across the country with more than 3.3 million students, with demand higher everywhere they are located. Forty-six states, including Washington, D.C. have charter school laws. West Virginia enacted the most recent law in 2019. All charter laws are not created equal, however, and in fact, many are so flawed that they allow for only minimal opportunity for parents. PPI draws from CER’s newest Charter School Law Rankings and Scorecard, produced just this summer, 2020. For the US as a whole, the glass is more empty than full when it comes to meaningful charter choices.

Since 1996, CER has researched, analyzed, and ranked charter school laws, taking the content of each law into consideration as well as how it impacts charter schools on the ground. This Parent Power Index looks at four main areas of each state’s law:

If it allows for multiple authorizers, and if applicants have the ability to appeal a denial; whether it allows for growth, particularly with no caps on number of schools or enrollment; if schools and teachers have freedom to innovate; and if there is equitable funding of schools, including for facilities and transportation.

Charter schools are the most analyzed public school reform in decades. Since 1996, CER has studied their impact, their environment, and their practice and made recommendations for how to improve each law. The Parent Power Index charter score is based on whether the law allows for freedom and flexibility that can ensure parents, teachers and the general public are able to build vibrant, successful charter schools without undue interference from flawed state regulators, with equitable funding and parents in the driver’s seat. More about how this works can be found in CER publications, most notably Charting a New Course and The Future of School.

In addition, past rankings document how states have grown or confined charter schools and what best practices should be followed. Finally CER has provided a model charter school law for policymakers that is the standard bearer for advocates who believe that parents, not systems, should drive education.

Choice Programs

Educational choice is best defined as the availability of a multitude of public programs that provide parents with the ability to include private and religious entities – schools, tutoring, and other organizations – in their choices. Those programs are enacted at the state level, allowing in a wide variety of ways that the funds allocated for education in a state either follow the student to the institution the parent chooses or, as in the case of tax credits, public funds are redistributed to support the choices parents make, rather than automatically going to government based school districts.

These options are often referred to as scholarship programs, vouchers, tax credits, education accounts and more.

The existence of a higher degree of educational choice in a community or state, particularly for lower income students, has been found to be a significant factor in improving education and ensuring all students have access to the best school that meets their individual needs. Where once private options were only available to the more advantaged, most choice programs today ensure that those without resources have the power to shape their student’s education and invest in their future.

PPI 2020 assesses the extent to which every state gives families better and more abundant educational options through various mechanisms. Choice programs are analyzed and evaluated on their potential to reach all children across a state and for the degree to which they can actually support the full choice of parents, as opposed to only providing a modest amount of financial support. Programs where a significant population of parents can obtain scholarships or vouchers to send their children to the school of their choice score higher than those that have limitations based on geography, income, and student eligibility constraints.

To determine scores, PPI relies on well-established organizations which study, advance and support such programs. The scores were developed with this lens, and on information and ratings from EdChoice’s School Choice in America Dashboard, American Legislative Exchange Council’s Report Card on American Education: 23rd Edition, and American Federation for Children’s School Choice Interactive Map.

Teacher Quality

Teacher Quality is an equally important facet of ensuring greater educational opportunity. There is a direct correlation between quality teachers and student achievement, and teachers have the power to foster highly-effective learning environments and leave a lasting impact on the future of their students. State teacher policies are critical in ensuring that students have the opportunity to receive the best education possible. Without schools full of well-prepared teachers who are held accountable either directly to the parent or to taxpayers for student achievement, opportunity can be meaningless. Most states vary widely in the criteria used to train, hire, retain, evaluate, reward and advance teachers, and local rules also influence that criteria greatly, as do teachers unions. PPI 2020 looked again to the expert analysis of the National Council of Teacher Quality, and from several aspects of their work PPI extrapolated final teacher quality scores. (NCTQ does not grade each state.)

Relying solely on the rich data collected from the National Council on Teacher Quality, states are measured by across a wide range of policy categories: Training and Recruitment, Staffing and Support, Evaluation, and Compensation. The score is by no means comprehensive about teacher quality across every community and state, but it is based on the extent to which states rigorously expect, manage and measure different aspects of teacher training, hiring, evaluation and compensation. States score higher when they have strong, data-driven, performance-based accountability systems that ensure teachers are rewarded, retained, and advanced based on their effectiveness. Likewise, states that establish rigorous teacher preparation programs and offer alternative licensing programs earn higher scores.

For more information about the Teacher Quality landscape, please see the National Council on Teacher Quality’s detailed analysis in their State Teacher Policy Database.

Digital & Personalized Learning

States are measured on their increasing commitment to and practice of innovative approaches to education that include digital learning models and pathways, full or in part, encouraging personalized learning through focus on competency and mastery – even on a pilot level – or by allowing flexibility in schools and school districts that want to do it. Personalized learning models value mastery of material over traditional subject matter time tests, and competency over end of course grades. While these practices are best decided locally, closest to the student, states can motivate, incentivize, fund, discourage or encourage.

To determine scores, the PPI drew heavily from ExcelinEd’s 2019 State Progress Toward Next Generation Learning, Aurora Institute’s 2020 Future-Focused State Policy Actions to Transform K-12 Education, and KnowledgeWorks’ 2019 State Policy Framework for Personalized Learning.

COVID-19 Response

When COVID-19 reached our shores in early 2020, states were forced to close their schools for in-person instruction. Whether and how to continue teaching and set expectations for continued learning outside of the classroom was a big debate. Many states and schools quickly pivoted to delivering education remotely, either through technology enabled tools or with low-tech paper packets and phone calls, or a combination of both. The response from schools and school districts varied widely, with some being willing to adapt and some actually discouraging both teaching and learning. CER tracked those responses (and continues to do so, given the fluidity of the situation). States that were encouraging, set expectations, and demanded that schools figure out whatever they could to keep moving students forward, tended to have more schools and districts that responded well and worked to deliver education regardless of challenges. Many states that had digital or virtual learning programs in place were able to make a more seamless shift. Innovative leaders at local and state levels rose to the occasion. But many states and localities dragged their feet and, in some cases, outright discouraged schooling to keep going, including forbidding teachers in some areas to be required to do any face to face teaching via technology.

States were evaluated based on reviewing their official notices and declarations, and by reviewing a broad array of surveys and data many groups have been maintaining. This score also factors in states’ prior commitments to expanding broadband and internet access and how they worked to provide devices to keep students learning and engaged.

What was, and is, a challenging and unprecedented time for schools, teachers, and parents was also an opportunity to look at states’ and schools’ abilities to adapt, be flexible, and innovate.

Leadership

Improving education opportunity and innovation requires leaders who boldly and courageously push forward to create or expand successful programs that allow a wide variety of educational choice and individualized programs to thrive. Governors and state legislators are the most important entities in each state to pave the way, or deter, expanded parent power. Some leaders pay lip service to issues, while others wake up with a fire in their belly to ensure that they are doing what they can every day to push through conventional wisdom and demand 21st century schooling opportunities for all students.

Whether or not your governor is the bold, fire-in-the-belly kind, or a passive applauder of others’ efforts, is evaluated to help you push or prod or applaud. PPI looks at their positions AND actions on charter schools, choice programs, innovation, and commitment to increasing educational opportunities for all students at every level and summarizes it for you here. You have the power to elect leaders who prioritize parents and students!

Constitutional Issues

The ability for states to enact educational change can be significantly limited depending on certain provisions in state constitutions.

The most common clause that limits educational opportunity in most states are “Blaine Amendments” – named after 19th century Congressman James Blaine nearly 150 years ago. Historically, these provisions in 37 state constitutions were either interpreted to restrict educational choice programs that include private schools or have been a deterrent for many programs being considered, let alone enacted.

This issue received a great deal of press leading up to and following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 30, 2020 decision in the case of Espinoza vs Montana Department of Revenue, a case that dealt with Montana’s Blaine Amendment. That landmark decision found that the U.S. Constitution “forbids states from excluding religious schools as options for families participating in educational choice programs, including through Blaine Amendments.”

As a result, most states have a new path to enact programs that provide options for families, including religious schools. Their individual versions of Blaine Amendments can either be nullified with attorney generals’ opinions, with legislation or with both. Additional restrictions on expanded opportunity are often dedicated by what is called a Compelled Support Clause where dated constitutional language restricts public funding to government entities.

We look at each state’s particular constitutional issues, utilizing a number of sources, CER attorney analysis and the Institute for Justice’s research as our guide: https://ij.org/report/a-guide-to-designing-educational-choice-programs/. Additional information about Espinoza and Blaine Amendments can be found here: www.edreform.com/blaine/.

In addition, if states have other constitutional barriers to more opportunity, they are evaluated in this area.

Transparency

Transparency is a key element of providing great opportunities for students. Every parent needs and deserves full transparency of school-level data to allow them to make informed decisions and drive changes in how their students are educated. School report cards empower parents in their decision making by giving them access to meaningful and quality education data about a particular school or district. Report cards often provide information on student performance, student growth, attendance, graduation rates, demographics, teacher quality, school environment, assessments, and more. States that have greater transparency and accountability provide the public with data that is current, readily available, and easy to understand.

States are measured based on the transparency and accessibility of data for the average person looking to learn about their child’s school. States have more gas in the tank when school report cards are easily accessible from their state DOE homepage; report cards are comprehensive, user-friendly, and easy to understand; and information about educational options are readily available. Additionally, states score higher when they hold School Board Elections during the General Election cycle, as opposed to off-times of the year when turnout is low, because this tends to afford parents more power in their decision-making.