Education

Teachers and school district superintendents lined up before the Kansas Board of Education Tuesday to support Common Core education standards.

They argued the standards will help students transfer more easily between schools and create students who are better at critical thinking and problem solving.

Sarah Berblinger is a teacher in the Buhler School District. She said the standards also help build a strong foundation for education.

Legislators passed a budget with more than $60 million in cuts over two years for the state's universities last week.  Gov. Sam Brownback told reporters on Friday that his office had received the budget, and they were going through it line by line.

He may have been focusing on the lines where universities faces across-the board cuts, and cuts to funding for salaries, which Gov. Brownback said, "I'm  not pleased with. I thought it should have been stable funding. So we're going to be looking at what all options are."

Members of the Kansas Board of Regents Thursday criticized the cuts to higher education in a budget passed by the state Legislature.

Cowley College in Winfield will continue banning concealed weapons inside its buildings and residence halls, as officials study how to implement a new Kansas law.

The law taking effect July 1 prohibits most public entities from banning concealed firearms in their buildings unless the buildings have adequate security. But it also lets public universities and junior colleges exempt themselves for four years. Trustees of Cowley College recently approved such an exemption last week.

Critics of the Kansas Board of Education's decision to adopt national standards for math and reading urged the board to reconsider its decision Tuesday.

Kansas is among 46 states that have adopted the national standards; they set academic expectations for students from kindergarten through high school.

The state adopted the standards in 2010, and school districts have begun implementing them in the classrooms and in teacher training.