By Kalli Smith

KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — Multiple bills focused on restoring due process rights to teachers are circulating throughout the Statehouse this session, but some are having no success after the House Education Committee rejected its second teacher due process bill earlier this month.

Rep. Steven Crum (D-Haysville) argued that without due process — also known as tenure — Kansas’ current teacher shortage will most likely continue.

“When you have no due process, like we do now, a principal can come in and tell you we’re non-renewing you or you’re fired and they don’t have to give you a reason,” Crum said. “It’s basically just up to them. No one wants to teach in a state that does this.”

According to an analysis conducted by the Kansas Commissioner of Education’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Teacher Vacancies and Supply, for the 2015-2016 school year, 277 teacher positions were left vacant. Last September, the Kansas Department of Education reported that there were 90 elementary school openings and more than 80 vacancies for special education teachers.

The report also found that 28 of the 46 vacancies in the Northeast region were in Kansas City, Kansas, and of the 286 school districts surveyed, 220 reported no vacancies in 2015-16.

Marcus Baltzell, communications director for the Kansas National Education Association, said that KSNE estimates the number of teacher vacancies could be more than 1,000.

Before legislation removed due process protections in 2014, a teacher who had taught three consecutive years in a school district and whose contract was renewed for a fourth year, would qualify for due process rights.

With due process, a teacher who felt he or she were terminated without just cause was allowed to request for an impartial hearing to plead his or her case, according to Crum.

Both sides, teacher and administrator, could present arguments to a third-party mediator, who would make a final ruling. Now, teachers no longer have that option.

A 2015-16 Kansas Commissioner of Education Blue Ribbon Task Force on Teacher Vacancies and Supply reported that districts in the Southwest and South Central rural regions have the most difficulty filling teaching positions. This area also saw the most teachers move away to larger, urban areas.

Ken Weaver, co-chair of the Kansas Commissioner of Education’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Teacher Vacancies and Supply report, said after reviewing the data on teacher vacancy and supply, the task force identified the four main challenges to the teacher supply dilemma: low salaries, low esteem for the teaching profession, current ongoing instability of education-related funding and policies in the Legislature and Kansas Public Employees Retirement System changes and contributions.

Weaver said the task force was then put in charge of developing immediate recommendations to be enacted from the fall of 2017 to spring of 2019, and long-term recommendations to be enacted from fall of 2019 and beyond. Of the 61 recommendations, having legislators “reinstate teacher due process” topped the list.

“The good news is that not many teachers need the due process —that’s part of working in Kansas where people by and large are honest,” Weavers said. “However, it is a tool that enables teachers to stand up to principals, or superintendents or school boards on matters of principle — that can be a good thing.”

Crum said he believes the removal of due process rights and the lack of pay increases is the driving force for the Kansas teacher shortage.

Last month, House Bill 2483 was presented to the Committee of Education. The bill would amend statutory procedures to teachers who earned their due process rights before June 30, 2014, Jason Long, senior assistant advisor on the Committee of Education said.

The bill would also reinstate the eligibility of certain school districts under the current due process, according to Long.

Rep. Willie Dove (R-Bonner Springs) voted no on the bill because he said he wants control over those matters to remain in local hands rather than the state government.

“They’re better suited for it and they know more about the situations.” Dove said. “When people here in the Statehouse aren’t that familiar with it.”

Last year, Crum introduced a similar bill that would have fully reinstated due process for all teachers. The bill made it past the House but died in the Senate.

 “This is something that we really have to fight up here, and that is the difference between tenure and due process, because this really isn’t about tenure it’s about due process and getting that back for teachers,” Crum said.

Despite the legislation, Jenny Dunn, a high school English teacher for USD 415 in Hiawatha, said teachers in her district now have language in their contracts that still gives them access due process rights.

“ I do think it is a travesty that under the current statewide law, a veteran teacher could be without a job simply because one disgruntled parent knows someone on the board or in the community whom they convince that you are not fit for your job,” Dunn said. “Fortunately, I feel like it would take a lot more than that in our district as our administration really works with us through the evaluation process and in providing feedback to continue to help us grow as teachers.”

Matt Seimears, professor of science education at Emporia State University’s Teacher College, said the answer to what’s causing Kansas’ teacher shortage is a mystery to him, but guessed it wasn’t just not having due process rights.

“Teaching has many challenges, I know, I taught at a USD (Unified School District),” Seimears said. “I’m not sure if the data presents this as an accurate result. I have a former student that left as a teacher and went into banking due to over testing at their site.”

Baltzell said the biggest issue KNEA had with due process rights being taken away was there was no hearing done before the decision was made.

“This was just like thrown in at the last minute, strictly a partisan political move,” Baltzell said. “But the key takeaway on that night in April, is that they took away due process, and they did it without due process. There has to be hearings for a bill to become a law and the fact that there wasn’t is concerning.”

Baltzell said he didn’t know if he could give an accurate answer as to what is specifically causing a teacher shortage in the state of Kansas, but he does think due process is something that people think about when deciding where to teach.

Kalli Smith is a University of Kansas junior majoring in journalism from Hiawatha.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City firefighter faces charges for an incident in which witnesses allege he called a child a racial slur and then spat on him in a restaurant.

The Kansas City Star reports that 42-year-old Terrence J. Skeen has been charged with battery, assault and disorderly conduct involving a Feb. 26 incident at a Hooters restaurant. Witnesses told police that a customer used a racial slur and spit on a child.

Police say the case also has been referred to the FBI for further investigation.

A Kansas City spokesman says Skeen has worked for the fire department for more than 15 years.

City officials declined to comment on individual personnel or discipline issues but stated that the city “values diversity and expects all employees to treat others with respect.”

The KBI canceled the Silver Alert for Georgia Miner. She was found deceased in Topeka.

Authorities released to additional details later Thursday.

—

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is  seeking the public’s assistance in locating a missing endangered adult.

Georgia R. Miner, white female, 75 years old, has not had contact with relatives or friends since March 2, 2018. Ms. Miner drives a silver, 2007 Hyundai Sonata with Kansas tag 406-AZQ.

According to family, Ms. Miner has exhibited signs of dementia and has gotten lost while driving errands in the recent past. Ms. Miner also takes medication and it is unknown if she has it in her possession.

Ms. Miner is 5’04’’ tall, 135 lbs. with blonde, medium length hair and blue eyes.If you have seen or had contact with Ms. Miner or know of her whereabouts, please contact the
Lenexa Police Department at 913-477- 7301, or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474- TIPS (8477).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Latest on a Missouri shooting that left one police officer dead and two others wounded (all times local):

1p.m.

Authorities say a woman who was arrested at a Missouri home where a man shot three police officers had been helping the man deal methamphetamine.

State Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Hagerty wrote in a probable cause statement that 37-year-old Tammy Widger told a fellow investigator that she helped James Waters deal meth in exchange for him paying her bills.

Widger was taken into custody after authorities say Waters shot three police officers who were mistakenly sent to her Clinton home while responding to a 911 call made from another town. One of the officers was killed and the other two were wounded. Waters also died, but investigators don’t know if he shot himself or was shot by police.

Widger was charged Wednesday with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and maintaining a public nuisance. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Widger, whose bond is set at $25,000.

11 a.m.

A cousin of a man suspected of fatally shooting one officer and wounding two others says his relative shouldn’t have had a gun because of his extensive criminal history.

John Rudolph told KCTV that his cousin, 37-year-old James Waters, could get his hands on guns despite being in and out of prison since 2000 for drug and resisting arrest convictions. Waters had illegal gun possession and drug charges pending against him in Cass County when he died.

Authorities say Waters fatally shot Clinton officer Christopher Ryan Morton and wounded two other officers Tuesday night after they were sent to the wrong address while responding to a 911 call.

Rudolph says Waters had “mental issues.” He offered condolences to Morton’s family.

___

7:20 a.m.

A man suspected of fatally shooting one Missouri officer and wounding two others refused to let officers tend to the dying officer for hours.

The Kansas City Star reports that a dispatcher can be heard talking to Clinton Officer Christopher Ryan Morton soon after he was wounded Tuesday night. Morton says on the radio traffic that he’d been hit “multiple times” and that he doesn’t think he can make it out of a window. The dispatcher begs Morton to “stay with us.”

The Star reports that the suspect, James Waters, barricaded himself inside the home and exchanged gunfire with the dozens of officers who eventually arrived. Neighbor Sheryl Long says officers begged Waters during the standoff to let them tend to the fallen officer.

By the time officers got to Morton hours later, he was dead, along with Waters. Waters had been in and out of prison multiple times for mostly drug-related convictions.

KANSAS CITY- Authorities have arrested an Omaha murder suspect in Missouri.

Omaha police said in a news release Thursday that the suspect identified as Taliaferro Thompson, 21, of Omaha, was found in Kansas City. Court records don’t yet show any formal charges.

Police say Thompson was sought in the slaying of 23-year-old Ashlyn Higgins in January last year. A man, Parris Stamps, was injured in the same shooting.

STONE COUNTY — A Missouri man died in an accident just before 3p.m. Wednesday in Stone County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Yamaha Dirt Bike driven by James A. Bell, 41, Springfield, was westbound on private property just north of Branson West.

The bike overturned. Bell was transported to Mercy Hospital where he died.  He was wearing a helmet, according to the MSHP.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Senate has passed a bill that would make it easier to terminate a father’s parental rights if the child was the result of rape.

The proposal, approved 31-1 on Wednesday, would allow judges to terminate a father’s parental rights if there was “clear, cogent, and convincing evidence” that he raped the mother, resulting in her pregnancy. The judge would also have to weigh whether termination would be in the child’s best interest.

Furthermore, the bill would allow a woman to collect child support from the man accused of rape, even if his rights were terminated. But the woman would remain eligible for public assistance even if she did not seek child support.

The bill now moves to the House.