KIMBERLY HEFLING, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled Senate education panel is beginning its revision of the landmark No Child Left Behind education law.

It’s focusing first on the thorny issue of federally mandated testing of America’s schoolchildren.

The law mandated that states annually test in reading and math for grades three to eight and once again in high school. Critics say that mandate has led to a high-stakes testing culture and teaching to the test. But supporters say the testing is an important way to track student learning.

Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee leads the Senate’s education committee. He says he’s open to listening to all sides of the testing debate.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A training campus for Special Olympics Missouri will be located in Jefferson City.
Phil Cook, chairman of the group’s board of directors, said Tuesday the board chose Jefferson City over Columbia for its Training For Life Campus.
Cook says the deciding factor was that Special Olympics Missouri would own donated property in Jefferson City, while it would have had to lease land in Columbia.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the 44,000-square-foot campus will be built on 15.5 acres. It is expected to host 30 or more training camps each year.
Cook says construction won’t start until the $12.5 million cost is raised in a capital campaign. The organization has raised more than half that amount and hopes to have $8 million by the end of the year.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon plans to call for more funding for public education in his State of the State address.

The Democratic governor will be speaking to a Legislature dominated by Republicans when he delivers his remarks Wednesday night. The governor’s office says he will ask lawmakers to work together in a bipartisan fashion.

Nixon already has highlighted one part of his agenda. It’s a bonding plan for repairs and renovations at public colleges and universities and state facilities such as the Capitol.

He has not said how much of a funding increase he will seek for the daily operations of K-12 schools and higher education institutions.

The governor’s office says Nixon will emphasize “fiscal discipline,” while also seeking to spend money on things that grow the economy.

WASHINGTON D.C. – In advance of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) continued to call on the president to work with Congress to pass a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda that will help middle-class workers and families.

Senator Blunt joined U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) in co-authoring a USA Today op-ed regarding President Obama’s community college plan. Last week, Blunt sent a bipartisan letter urging the president to work with Congress to rebuild America’s infrastructure and support the bipartisan “Partnership to Build America Act” to help jump-start job creation.

 

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A rural Leavenworth man will stand trial for first-degree murder in the shooting death of another man in 2013.

A Leavenworth County District Court judge ruled Tuesday that there was enough evidence to try 49-year-old Jeffery Sifford for the death of 58-year-old Richard Luse, of rural Easton. After the ruling, Sifford pleaded not guilty.

Luse was found wounded in December 2013 in a travel trailer at a Sifford’s home. Luse later died at a hospital.

The Leavenworth Times reports  Sifford was originally charged with second-degree murder but the charge was amended in October.

Sifford’s attorney, John Bryant, argued unsuccessfully Tuesday that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to support the first-degree murder charge.

At the defense’s request, the judge also ordered Sifford to undergo a mental evaluation before the trial.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police are seeking the public’s help in finding a man they say tried to kidnap a 7-year-old girl after a school bus dropped off her and her 11-year-old sister last week.

Authorities say the children were coming home last Tuesday from an after-school program when a man grabbed the 7-year-old by her arm and started pulling her away. The girls told police he said he wanted her to play with dolls with his daughter.

Police say the man ran away after both children began to scream. The 11-year-old girl told authorities that she had seen the man occasionally in the area over the last two months.

Authorities say they’re looking for a white man between 40 and 50 years old with a medium build and some facial hair.