Month: February 2018

KCKCC and KCKPS enter into partnership to create opportunities for Wyandotte County students

Kansas City Kansas Community College and Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools are working together to create more higher education opportunities to students in Wyandotte County, according to an announcement today.

KCKCC and KCKPS signed a Memorandum of Understanding during a special joint meeting Dec. 18, paving the way for a Concurrent – Dual Enrollment Partnership. The MOU outlines the guidelines and requirements for the program, which will be available to all high school students in the school district who wish to take college-level courses. These courses, unless specified, are at no cost to students of the school district.

“In Kansas, by 2020, 72 percent of all careers will require more than a high school diploma,” said Dr. Cynthia Lane, superintendent of Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools. “That’s why Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools has transformed learning from what many of us know as ‘traditional’ schools to Diploma+ learning. That is why in order for us to continue the successful work of this initiative, we need partnerships like the one we have with Kansas City Kansas Community College. This new agreement will give our students the proper tools they need to continue to thrive academically and become successful adults in the workplace.”

Concurrent Enrollment Courses are those taught at the high schools during the normal school day by approved instructors. These courses will be for college credit, according to the agreement. Dual Enrollment Courses are classes offered at the high school or college campus and may be taught by a qualified high school teacher or college professor.

“Kansas City Kansas Community College is excited about the partnership agreement with KCKPS that creates tremendous opportunities for its students to earn college credit and technical certificates while still in high school,” KCKCC President Dr. Jacqueline Vietti said. “KCKPS’s Diploma+ goal is a shared one for the college, because when its students succeed, so does KCKCC. We are honored to be part of this milestone and look forward to future partnership initiatives that ultimately benefit the communities we collectively serve.”

Diploma+ begins in preschool building a strong foundation in academic and social emotional skills. Continuing through elementary and middle school, the program relies on project-based, hands-on learning as well as career exploration and visits to various industries and college campuses.

In high school, students choose from a variety of different Diploma+ Academies that focus on specific career interests, providing students with a number of real-world experiences. The goal is for every student in KCKPS to graduate with a high school diploma and at least one of the following Diploma+ endorsements:

• Completion of at least one full year of college (18-30 hours)
• Completion of an Industry-Recognized Certificate or Credential
• At least a 21 on the ACT or 1060 on the SAT
• Completion of the IB Diploma Programme or Career-Related Programme
• Acceptance into the Military
• Completion of a Qualified Internship or Industry-Approved Project
• An Approved Plan for Post-Secondary Transition

KCKPS students can complete one or more of the endorsements at no cost to them or their families. More information is at kckps.org/diplomaplus.

– Story from Kansas City Kansas Community College and Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools

King’s ‘Poor People’s Campaign’ revived in Kansas, elsewhere

by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, Kansas News Service

Sit-ins and other protests over poverty and racial equality could be coming to the Kansas Statehouse, clergy and civil rights activists said Monday.

They promised to bring the same level of attention to the issues that the causes garnered when Martin Luther King Jr. championed them a half-century ago in his Poor People’s Campaign.

The effort is an updated version of King’s campaign by the same name. It emphasizes higher minimum wages, lower barriers to voting and an end to disproportionate incarceration of minorities.

Darnell Hunt, an activist from Olathe, said the United States has the wealth to better tackle societal problems.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have a living wage,” Hunt said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have health care for all.”

But in Kansas, and other states, the political hurdles could be significant. Higher minimum wages face opposition from employers who say it could force them to cut jobs. And governments and businesses already struggle to meet existing health care costs.

King worked on the Poor People’s Campaign in the months leading up to his April 4, 1968, assassination.

The 2018 version is led by the Revs. William Barber of North Carolina and Liz Theoharis of New York.

In Kansas, participants kicked off their work Monday by gathering at the Statehouse in Topeka, where they gave lawmakers a letter calling for state policies addressing poverty and inequality.
Organizers say similar events were planned for the same day in 31 other states.

In May and June, the Poor People’s Campaign plans to launch six weeks of civil disobedience to push for change in state legislatures and Washington D.C.

“This is about morality,” Hunt said. “We can have a better society.”

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/kings-poor-peoples-campaign-revived-kansas-elsewhere.

UG staff advises more financial reserves

Unified Government staff members on Monday evening called for larger financial reserves.

According to Kathleen VonAchen, UG chief financial officer, it would be advisable for the UG to have three months of general fund reserves as compared to its current two months of reserves. Her presentation was Monday evening to a UG committee.

The strengthening of reserves was just one of many proposed revisions to the UG’s financial planning policies. There was no vote Monday; the topic will come back to future UG meetings for more discussions.

On Monday, when the Dow Jones index dropped more than 1,100 points, the Unified Government Economic Development and Finance Committee was advised to increase the UG’s financial reserves. The timing of the UG financial report on Monday night was coincidental with the day’s market drop. The report had been scheduled for several days before Monday’s decline. Friday’s Dow Jones index had decreased more than 600 points, and Tuesday’s Dow Jones index increased more than 500 points.

Commissioner Jim Walters said he favored not increasing reserves, and using surpluses to spend down the UG’s debt.

“My priorities are reducing debts and reducing taxes,” he said. He added last year the UG reached its reserve levels.

VonAchen said most of the changes outlined in the policy were already in practice by the UG. She said increasing reserves would probably improve the UG’s credit rating. Improving the credit rating could lead to savings on interest costs, she said. The UG’s credit rating with Standard and Poor’s has remained at AA through the past several years, but Moody’s downgraded the rating to A1 in 2015, according to VonAchen. The UG had lowered its reserves around the time of the recession about 10 years ago. It has made an effort to increase reserves over the past few years.

If the UG can get the rating increased to AA, the UG’s general obligation bonds would cost 2.85 percent instead of the 3.35 percent expected this week, she added. It would save an estimated $1.25 million over 20 years, or about $312,000 per year, she added.

Higher reserves also would protect against any disasters that could hit the economy or the community, she said. She outlined possible risks to UG finances.

More reserves would generate interest income to pay for additional street maintenance, public safety equipment and economic development, she said. She does not favor paying for some operating expenses with bonds, she added. Higher reserves also would avoid some interest expense from issuing bonds for various expenses.

The current fund balance is about 17 percent of expenditures, about two months, she said. She recommended gradually raising the reserve level, over a period of five years, to add $16 million, a reserve that would cover one more month, to bring the total to three months of expenses. The Government Finance Officers Association guidelines for a community this size recommends a 26 to 35 percent fund balance, and VonAchen said she is recommending 25 percent.

VonAchen added that the UG currently is doing very well from the financial operations standpoint. She said this will be the commission’s decision, and it may be discussed over the next few months.

“This is a little bit too cautious for my taste,” Commissioner Walters said. “At the end of the day we’re telling our citizens that we cannot give them tax relief because we need their money in our bank account in case something happens. That’s the exact discussion we had last time, I proposed a mill levy reduction instead of adding to our reserves.”

He added he didn’t like the idea of increasing reserve levels to pay off debt, and he would rather have less debt.

VonAchen at the meeting said it was possible to increase the reserves, reduce the debt load and reduce taxes at the same time.

Commissioner Tom Burroughs was in favor of flexibility in being able to use the reserve funds. He said he was concerned the UG wouldn’t tie its hands with building up reserves and then not reaching the criteria to use them, instead needing additional funding. He didn’t want to see the UG go out and bond more, he added.

Commissioner Gayle Townsend said the lengthy items covered in the financial planning topic were more than could be addressed at this time, and she preferred to wait until March at the budget retreat or after to vote on it.

To hear more discussion from this meeting, including more revisions on other financial policies, the meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgrpHgJrxqA.