MCPHERSON, Kan. (AP) — McPherson College and McPherson Hospital are partners in a new health initiative to improve rural health care.

The two organizations announced last week that they will combine academic programs and community outreach.

As part of the project, McPherson College will offer a new health science degree beginning in the fall of 2020.

Health science students will gain hands-on training with internships, field experiences and observation at McPherson Hospital.

McPherson Hospital CEO Terri Gehring says one goal of the project is to persuade some of the health science students to stay and work in McPherson after graduation. She says the hospital competes with several nearby organizations to recruit and retain employees.

A survey of all health-related opportunities for students in central Kansas is planned as part of the initiative.

Multiple Kansas agencies are deploying first responders to Florida for Hurricane Dorian response efforts

TOPEKA, Kan. – An Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team comprised of members from multiple Kansas agencies has been deployed to Florida for Hurricane Dorian response efforts.

Kansas Task Force 1 (KS-TF1) has rostered a team of 42 first responders from across the state to assist with operations in Florida as catastrophic Hurricane Dorian makes its way closer to the east coast of the US.

A Kansas team of first responders is headed to Florida to provide assistance as deadly Hurricane Dorian draws near. We owe them our thanks for the rapid response. https://t.co/rJwZHam0na

— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) September 3, 2019

The team left Sunday evening for an expected 14-day deployment in Florida. KS-TF1 will be taking qualified Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP)-equivalent Type 3 USAR equipment, which includes floodwater/swiftwater equipment and full collapse rescue cache.

“History has shown us how important an immediate and effective emergency response is during catastrophic weather events when it comes to saving lives and property,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “We are sending an extremely trained and qualified group of Kansas first responders to assist the State of Florida as it faces this monstrous storm. It is my sincere hope that this team will provide the assistance needed in the safest way possible, and that they all return to Kansas as quickly and safely as possible.”

The team is prepared to search for and transport any people and animals stranded by rising storm surge and flood waters. They are also ready to provide basic life support and medical care, while supporting any other urban search and rescue efforts.

SHAWNEE COUNTY– Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for sex crimes that are alleged to have occurred at a home daycare.

On Tuesday criminal charges were filed against Kyle Scott, 35, Topeka, for alleged sex crimes against a child, according to Shawnee County District’s office.

A three-year-old attending daycare at a home in the 5500 block of SW 18th Terrace in Topeka on August 21, reported the incident to family members who contacted police.

On August 22, police arrested Scott in Topeka on requested charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and lewd and lascivious conduct, according to the county attorney.

He is being held on a bond of $1 million and is scheduled for court on September 5, according to the county attorney.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City-area schools are trying to remedy a critical teacher shortage looming as the new school year begins, including by placing unqualified educators into some classrooms.

Some school districts have been rehiring retired teachers, or training counselors and coaches to teach.

The profession’s infamous low pay combined with fewer people pursuing a teaching career have school districts scrambling to find qualified candidates, according to Paul Katnik, an assistant commissioner at the Missouri Department of Education.

About 11% of Missouri teaching positions are vacant every year. Last October, the Kansas Department of Education logged a 19% increase in teacher vacancies from a year earlier.

Some districts responded by filling slots with teachers who may be certified, but not to teach the subject they have been assigned. In Kansas, the state last year issued 333 “restricted licenses,” which allow more unqualified teachers into the classroom. The state issued 266 such licenses in 2017 and 162 in 2014.

“In special education, for example, school districts can’t find teachers, so they may have to hire paraprofessionals who don’t have full qualifications,” said Mark Tallman, an associate executive director with the Kansas Association of School Boards. “The No. 1 concern we hear is the staffing shortage. … Some districts literally can’t find anyone for a position.”

The challenge to find teachers is particularly daunting in special education, speech, math, science and music. The most severe shortage is in urban and rural districts, but some suburban areas have also been affected.

Missouri’s average starting teacher salary is one among the lowest in the nation at $31,842, according to the state education department. In Kansas, the average starting salary is $34,883. Both states’ average overall teacher salary is around $48,000.

In the tight labor market, Kansas schools have failed to offer competitive salaries, or salaries that keep up with inflation, Tallman said.

Teachers’ varied skills are in high demand and can land them higher-paying jobs, said Ann Jarrett, director of teaching and learning for the Missouri National Education Association.

Last year, Kansas lawmakers approved a $500 million increase in school funding. The Kansas Supreme Court ordered lawmakers to adjust the plan for inflation. And earlier this year, a bill added another $90 million per year for the next four years.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A court notice shows the federal lawsuit filed by a Muslim aerospace engineer has been settled days before the trial over allegations of discrimination stemming from a party at a Kansas lake.

The filing Friday in U.S. District Court does not detail settlement terms between Munir Zanial and the Spirit Boeing Employees Association. The trial that had been scheduled for Tuesday is cancelled.

The Malaysian national of Indian ancestry rented a pavilion at the group’s lake in 2017 to celebrate Malaysian Independence Day. The lawsuit alleges the association suspended his rental privileges and reported him to authorities.

It alleged an American flag had been desecrated by Islamic State group symbols. But the flag was actually a Malaysian flag and the guests included people of Malaysian Indian ancestry, some wearing hijabs.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

COFFEYVILLE, KANSAS — Preschool was a logistical boon for Delice Downing and an educational bonanza for her son, Adrian.

The head volleyball coach and director of student life at Coffeyville Community College had ruled out day care when she heard the price: several hundred dollars a week.

Then Adrian reached preschool age. Coffeyville offers something most Kansas communities don’t: free attendance at a preschool with room for nearly all kids in town whose parents want it.

About 200 3- and 4-year-olds attend the school district’s Early Learning Center either half or full-day.

About 200 children have access to preschool for free in Coffeyville, a town where one in five kids lives in poverty.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

“I’m a coach. It’s impossible — we travel all the time,” Downing said. “So having him here these past two years has helped. … I know that he’s in good hands. He is safe.”

Quality options that keep kids safe and nurtured run in short supply in Kansas — and often break the bank. A run-of-the-mill day care can cost more than college. Preschools like Coffeyville’s require staff, space and money that many districts don’t have.

State officials want a solution.

Better access to child care and preschool would help more parents balance work and family, they say, maintain steady incomes and learn parenting skills. Kids would get the extra nurturing that strengthens their academics in the short-term and cuts crime and poverty down the road.

Some communities have forged ahead by splicing together school and Head Start funds, child care subsidies, grants, and gifts from philanthropists and local businesses. How many towns and cities can find similar paths?

Cornelia Stevens leads The Opportunity Project in Wichita, or TOP. It serves 600 mostly low-income kids ages one through five, largely for free.

“If you don’t have a safe place to take your child, you can’t work,” Stevens said. “And that’s a reality.”

Children practice writing their names at Coffeyville’s preschool.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

Yet even TOP, one of the state’s most celebrated models for increasing early childhood education, can’t serve all the families that need it.

“We actually have conversations almost annually about, ‘OK, do we expand?’” Stevens said. “We’re trying to make sure first that we can really provide the level of support that’s needed to serve the children and families.”

Quality versus ‘nothingness’

During his two years at preschool, Adrian blossomed from a shy, quiet toddler into a talkative 5-year-old toting books home from the mini library and bubbling with stories for mom about teacher praise for his excellent napping skills.

“He says, ‘Mom, I’m the best sleeper,’” Downing chuckles. “I said, ‘OK, that’s good, son!’”

By the time he finished last May, Adrian had begun learning “sight words,” common written vocabulary.

Coffeyville’s Early Learning Center has a small library where preschoolers can borrow books to read with their parents.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

“It’s a blessing,” Downing said. “It’s just been awesome.”

Coffeyville preschoolers learn how to open milk cartons and pick up lunch trays. At storytime, they explain to their teachers what words like “author” and “illustrator” mean.

At playtime, pouting and fits over who gets which toy dissipate when kids tick through their list of options with teachers. They can ask to trade toys, or to share. They can ask to use it next time.

“Is it OK to be angry?” teacher Aleisha Weimer prompted her 3- and 4-year-olds last May. “Yeah,” several replied. “We can’t scream,” one little boy added.

This is what early childhood researchers like to see: teachers who “scaffold,” helping children connect mental dots without doing all the work for them.

Don’t underestimate how much these social and emotional lessons pay off for academics, fellow teacher Lianakay Wilson said.

“If you’re mad, you’re not going to want to sit down and listen to a teacher talk ‘one, two, threes’ and ‘A, B, Cs,’” she said. “You’re stuck on whatever you’re mad about.”

Coffeyville preschoolers practice opening milk cartons. Meals are just one way they pick up motor skills.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

To critics who say early childhood risks becoming too academic, the founder of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University says the opposite remains true. Most facilities fall short of giving kids the stimulating surroundings where they thrive best.

“What we see is vast hours of nothingness,” Steven Barnett said. “Playtime that’s not engaged.”

Sure, children can spend a morning happily stacking blocks, he says. But they flex more social, analytical and vocabulary muscles if they chat with teachers about what they’re building, how and why.

Happy children, healthy brains

A stressed-out early life can hinder healthy brain development, researchers at Harvard say.

Maybe there’s violence at home or crime down the street. No decent grocery stores or doctor’s offices around. Mom and Dad live paycheck to paycheck. An eviction notice shows up on the door.

Good child care and preschool can boost baby brains even in tough conditions. Home-visit programs hone parenting knowhow to reinforce the effect.

But libertarians wary of ever-bigger and more costly government remain skeptical. They point to disappointing results in some studies that check preschoolers years later for academic gains, and call others unrigorous. The picture remains too fuzzy, they argue, to pour major public money into broad access to early childhood education.

Toys help kids learn letters and their sounds at the preschool in Coffeyville.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

The U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse reviewed 40 studies on Head Start and tossed out 39 for falling short of its research standards.

But longitudinal studies have shown ample returns that transform people’s lives.

A famed Ypsilanti, Michigan, preschool project from the 1960s continues to spark fresh research and inspire interest from a new generation of academics still scrutinizing the lives of participants who are now in their mid-50s, and even the lives of their now-adult children.

“This program has helped in lifting multiple generations out of poverty — for sure,” said Ganesh Karapakula, a doctoral student in economics at Yale University who co-authored recent papers on the topic with Nobel laureate James Heckman at the University of Chicago Center for the Economics of Human Development.

The pair applied a “worst-case scenario” statistical analysis to see whether flaws in the Ypsilanti experiment — including small sample size and possible randomization errors — would explain away remarkable long-term outcomes that range from reductions in violent crime to more stable marriages and healthier bodies.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

It didn’t.

“I did not expect that we would find these results,” Karapakula said. “That they would survive the worst-case analyses.”

Earlier this year, the Learning Policy Institute released a review of the most rigorous studies on early childhood programs. Overall, they showed benefits for early reading, math skills and more. Cost-benefit analyses consistently find preschool pays off.

Savings can come in the form of kids not repeating grades or needing special education. Or they finish high school, go to college. They stay out of jail and pour bigger paychecks better lives for their kids.

Policymakers should move past the question of whether early childhood programs work, the institute says, and focus instead on the difference between good and bad ones.

Supply, demand and more demand

Last year, Kansas scored a $4.4 million federal grant to pin down the state’s early childhood needs and chase down ideas for increasing quality and access.

Coffeyville businesses helped raise money for the town to offer more full-day preschool spots. Community leaders say preschool helps with economic development.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

Officials from four state agencies that deal with early childhood health and education fanned out to hear from parents and others at scores of townhall-like meetings.

Over and over, parents and businesses described a dearth of options, or a fragmented patchwork of public programs that are difficult to navigate and stigmatized.

Tallies from the Rutgers institute suggest about one in 10 Kansas 3-year-olds get spots at public preschools, and about half of 4-year-olds do.

By contrast, Oklahoma serves slightly more of its 3-year-olds, and offers universal preschool for 4-year-olds.

Don’t expect Kansas to follow that recipe ⁠— and not just because of the money it would take. Child advocacy groups and state officials worry a state-funded statewide preschool program would sink day care centers that make ends meet by watching over babies and young kids.

Infant care could become harder to find, they fear, in a state where most counties already lack enough day care spots to serve kids whose parents work.

If not the Oklahoma way, then what?

The town of Coffeyville, population 10,000, lies just minutes by car from Oklahoma, which offers universal preschool.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

Melissa Rooker made a name for herself spearheading efforts in the legislature to increase funding for public schools. Now she heads the Kansas Children’s Cabinet.

“We can’t depend on an answer coming entirely from the state budget or federal budget,” she said. “The idea is to embrace what we call ‘the mixed-delivery system.’”

Kansas aims to have a draft strategic plan in October, followed by more public meetings and a finalized list of recommendations by the end of the year.

What to expect? Officials want to blur the line between day care and education by promoting best practices for early learning wherever adults work with babies and kids.

“It doesn’t matter where,” Rooker said. “Every single environment that they are in is a learning environment.”

Though state-funded universal preschool is off the table, the plan could call for more funding, streamlined regulations, tweaks to statutes or program eligibility. It could highlight towns that raised money locally and coaxed matches out of foundations and businesses.

A Coffeyville preschooler pretends that a doll is feeling sick and that she is caring for it.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

Scrutinizing how the state administers its myriad public early childhood programs and funding sources would reflect a national movement along similar lines.

Funders each set their own rules that can flummox parents and school districts alike. For preschools that mix and match, it can mean extra safety inspections or keeping at least a few kids on waitlists at all times, even when their goal is not to.

The Bipartisan Policy Center ranks Kansas one of the worst states in the country at integrating early childhood programs and other measures meant to improve options for families.

And child advocates have long faulted the state for questionable use of tobacco settlement dollars, welfare funding and other pots of money meant to help families. That’s ranged from leaving federal resources untapped to diverting family aid to plug state budget holes.

This month Kansas canceled a contract with a private company that it says spent welfare dollars flagged for childhood literacy on its owners instead.

Still, reviewing and streamlining programs may only get Kansas so far.

The Kansas Reading Roadmap office in Topeka. A company that runs the program lost its contract over alleged inappropriate spending of welfare dollars.

CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE

“People somehow think that there’s a lot of duplication … and that if we somehow blended and braided, we could serve more kids better,” he said. Maybe it could serve kids better, but serve much more of them? “That’s just wrong.”

For now, if Kansas doesn’t have the money to expand early childhood education significantly, he suggests focusing on communities with the most at stake. They offer the biggest bang for the buck.

In other words, don’t just tie help to low family incomes and spread limited dollars thin across Kansas. That leaves elementary schools without enough better-prepared children to revamp kindergartens and later grades. Preschoolers can end up rehashing what they’ve learned, and losing their gains.

Aim instead for critical masses of kindergarten-ready tykes in the poorest neighborhoods.

“It makes sense,” Barnett said. “Where are the highest concentrations of poverty? Let’s just knock them off (the list) one at a time as we can.”

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @Celia_LJ or email her at celia (at) kcur (dot) org.