September 1 of 2017 was the deadline for Kansas high school instructors of academic college credit courses to have a masters degree and 18 graduate credit hours in the subject being taught.

High schools offer those “dual-credit” courses in cooperation with a nearby higher education institution. Those universities, community colleges and technical colleges are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). And the HLC set September 1, 2017 as a deadline for instructors of college credit courses to have a degree higher than the course level being taught. However, many high school instructors lacked those credentials. The Kansas Governor and the heads of the K-NEA, State Department of Education and Board of Regents requested more time for schools to meet this requirement.

The HLC responded by allowing: “…the opportunity for institutions with dual credit programs to seek an extension of the deadline from September 2017 to September 2024 as to faculty teaching in the dual credit program only.” However, each higher education partner had to individually apply to the HLC to request this extension to further train high school instructors of college credit courses. Otherwise the September 1, 2017 deadline ended college credit for that high school course.

Eight community colleges, tech schools and universities did not apply for an extension. That means that all high school courses accepted by them for college credit should now have been taught by a teacher with a masters degree with 18 graduate credit hours in the subject.

For those higher education institutions that received an extension, their under-qualified high school teachers of college credit courses should be making progress toward reaching those credentials.

It has been a year since these “regulations” have been in effect. What is the situation in Kansas high school classrooms? Having sent over 260 biology teachers into Kansas classrooms, I have plenty of sources of information from the field. But with Kansas being a rare state where teachers do not have tenure protection, I must be careful to not reveal sources.

The number of high school dual credit courses in Kansas should have gone down under these regulations; but they appear to have gone up substantially!

In some high schools where the higher education school did not request an extension, all dual credit courses should have been taught by masters-with-18 teachers. But there are multiple cases where teachers without these credentials are continuing to teach dual credit college courses under the assumption that they were somehow “grandfathered in.” There is no such HLC provision. These courses are being given college credit in violation of HLC criteria.

In high schools partnering with a higher ed institution that did seek and receive an extension, those teachers without the masters-with-18 credential should be working toward achieving that masters degree. But in many cases the teachers are merely teaching another year with no further educational effort being made, recognizing that the college credit for their high school course will end in 2024. This fails to meet the letter and the intent of the HLC “extension.”

But these violations of HLC standards may never see the light of day. Neither the State Department of Education nor the Board of Regents has any inspectors who go into the field to check credentials. Simply, if you have a law but no enforcement, you have no law.

I want to make it clear that there are some excellent high school teachers who offer a rigorous course that may very well deserve college credit. And there are some institutions, such as Johnson County Community College, that rigorously oversee the credentials and professional development of the high school teachers for which they accept course credit. But far more do not.

In this last year, the Kansas Legislature moved to enable all Kansas high school students to take dual credit coursework without asking if there were enough qualified high school teachers to support that effort. What was originally intended decades ago as a rare opportunity for a few exceptional students to move ahead, has now become an expectation of all students, regardless of their ability. With no minimal requirements established—the poorest performing high school student can enroll in dual credit at taxpayer expense. Every student is a Doogie Howser!

It has become common to hear that “the college degree has become the new high school diploma.” Formerly that meant that getting a job would now require more education. But it is now coming to mean that the college degree may equal no more than a high school diploma in academic achievement.

John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.

By JOHN P. TRETBAR

That rule is that nothing is ever forgotten. No nuance of just halltalk, or anything more substantive, passes into the ether here.

It was the moderate House Majority Leader Don Hineman, R-Dighton, who reminded — apparently on an e-mail that was circulated a little more widely than he’d have liked — that moderate incumbents and candidates for the House need to watch what they say in terms of endorsing candidates for other office.

The specific, of course, is that Republicans who aren’t fans of the party’s hard-right conservative gubernatorial nominee, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, ought to be quiet about it. Don’t criticize Kobach, don’t contribute to his challengers, and don’t cross a party line with support or even compliments leading up to the general election.

Oh, and it probably doesn’t make good campaign sense to endorse an opponent to your party’s gubernatorial candidate…just because there are Republicans out there who consider an attack on one Republican an attack on all Republicans.

Yes, the Kansas House now is largely conservative Republicans, with Democrats No. 2, and moderate Republicans, maybe 25, maybe 30 depending on the day, coming in No 3.

Now, those moderate Republicans are just plain old Republicans on most days in the Statehouse. There are simple budget decisions, there are simple bills that maybe everyone in the House will support. And there are bills and issues that Republicans support and Democrats oppose.

But then there are those philosophically partisan bills that split Republicans, or, conservative Republicans from moderate Republicans and the chamber’s Democrats. Think school finance, expanding Medicaid (KanCare, as we call the contractor-managed health-care system) and social welfare issues.

Practically, every candidate who has invested his/her or his/her contributors’ money and time to a campaign ought to be narrowly focused on winning the seat. Once the candidate gets to the House, his/her vote counts just like everyone else’s but if you don’t get elected, you are restricted to visitor areas in the Statehouse, where you can’t even holler from the gallery on a voice vote.

Sound a little too simple?

Well, it’s not if you happen to be a moderate Republican who wants to get elected based on your campaign promises and goals, not necessarily a party platform or links to anyone else on the ballot.

***

Not quite sure how this works on the doorstep, if a candidate is asked by the potential voter behind the screen door about others on the ballot and members of the candidate’s party.

Do you just say you haven’t met them yet, or that it doesn’t matter because you are going to represent the district to the best of your ability whomever winds up in the nice office on the 2nd floor of the Statehouse—the governor’s office.

Or, do you say that one of the nicer things about the electoral system is that votes are not made public?

***

If this all sounds a little nit-picky, you might recall that many House candidates are new to the whole political process and will be new to the Statehouse and will be those folks looking around to see where the nearest restroom is. Just the simple campaign on whatever issues a candidate thinks are important is about where the campaigning can stop.

***

Maybe it’s easier for Democrats who have a traditional Democratic candidate on the ballot and tend not to see as much intra-party squabbling in their House caucus meetings.

Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com

When we arrived at Tommy Kinch’s barn near Douglas, Kansas, it was already a beehive of activity. Tommy is an avid falconer and a member of the Kansas Hawking Club. Joyce and I and our grandson Jacob Friesen had come to help club members build Kestrel nest boxes. Tables were set up as work benches, and stacks of parts precut and prepared by Tommy and his wife Becky sat in neat, organized piles awaiting assembly. While Tommy oversaw the operation, Becky made a pizza run and the other nine of us worked together to build and assemble nest boxes.

Kestrels are Kansas’ smallest, most common and most colorful falcons. Often known as sparrow hawks, grasshopper hawks or house hawks, kestrels are about the size of a blue jay with pointed wings that span around 22 inches when mature. They are very colorful, with slate colored wings, bright rufus- orange back plumage, two black stripes across each check and a blue crown.

The Peregrine Fund was established in 1970 in response to dwindling peregrine falcon populations in the Northeastern US. In 1999 peregrines were removed from the endangered species list and the organization decided to apply its experience and understanding to other dwindling raptor populations internationally. In 2012, the Peregrine Fund launched the American Kestrel Partnership (AKP) in response to long-term declining kestrel populations. “The AKP is a network of citizens and professional scientists working together to better understand kestrels and to advance conservation and habitat practices that will boost American kestrel populations.” Although Kansas seems to have a stable population of kestrels, studies by the AKP show their numbers to be slightly on the decline in the central one-half of Kansas.

Kestrels can often be identified by their well-known hunting technique of hovering over open grass and prairie land looking for mice and large insects which are their main diet. They like open country with a few dead trees, lone bushes and fence posts. They like to be able to see their entire hunting domain from a single perch somewhere. They can also be identified by their habit of repeatedly “bobbing” their tails when perched high on a power pole or fence post. They are cavity nesters and can readily be attracted to nest boxes placed in the correct habitat. Tommy lives along a gravel road a few miles from the town of Douglas, KS, and a nest box 15 feet off the ground on a nearby power pole has been home to a Kestrel family for a couple years now.

Maria Ornelos, Senior Administrative Assistant with Kansas Dept of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is in charge of all paperwork and administrative issues for the falconry program here in Kansas. Maria was there to help build nest boxes, and told me “I see it as an opportunity to become more informed about the sport of falconry so I’m better prepared to help with any issues involving the sport that come across my desk.”
Chris Ly from Overbrook, KS is the current president of the Kansas Hawking Club. Last year the club began an annual project of building kestrel nesting boxes in response to the American Kestrel Partnership’s desire to bolster kestrel numbers. Chris told me “Falconers are well known for being stalwart conservationists and this seemed like a good way to give back to the land. Kansas already has a good population of kestrels and we figured if we can increase the Kansas population even further, some birds will disperse into surrounding states.”

Tommy and Becky worked a whole day in their shop to have all the parts ready prior to last Sunday’s nest box assembly party. The boxes were taken home by everyone to be erected themselves or to be given away to others to put-up. A small bag of wood shavings for nesting material was included in each one, and the only maintenance necessary is to clean out each box after nesting season and place new nesting material inside. A couple coats of sealer will help the boxes weather better and last longer (1/2 linseed oil and 1/2 turpentine is suggested). Last year was the club’s first attempt at building these boxes and they built 15.

A friendly competition with the Oklahoma falconry club has developed, and this year the Kansas club produced 32 boxes, beating the reported Oklahoma clubs total of 30. By the way, these same nesting boxes can also attract screech owls if erected in a more wooded area. For more info about building and placing kestrel nest boxes and for the pattern used to make them, contact me at [email protected]. Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.

Folks who inhabit tiny towns like Alton, population 98, remain viable because of civic pride and a willingness to give back to their community. For this little village, whose greatest claim to fame remains that of being the birthplace of Russell Stover, civic responsibility is just that – an old, established concept that compels people to work, play and live together in harmony.

Young people study so they can use this knowledge to better their community, school teachers volunteer outside the classroom and farm families donate their time and energy. These contributions help keep their communities moving steadily along like the parade entries in the recent “Summer Jubilee” in this north-central Kansas town.

Alton held its 34th celebration Aug. 25. The population increased 10 times as approximately 1,000 people participated in the day and a half long event. For many it was a homecoming. For others it was a chance to enjoy a good time.

“Our annual celebration affords us the opportunity to bring people of this community and the surrounding towns together,” says Deanna Roach, a lifetime native who farms with her husband, Stanley, south of Alton. “We’re proud of our heritage and we want people to know about it and continue to be a part of it.”

“Meet at the Crossroads” was the theme of this year’s celebration. Many people living in Alton today trace their families back to Bull City. Alton was originally called Bull City when two men, Gen. Bull and Mr. Earl decided the current town site was a good place to build a community. Seems they couldn’t decide whether to call it Bull City or Earlsville. They flipped a coin. Bull won.

A few years later a lady from Alton, Ill. came through and decided that the name, “Bull City” was vulgar. Just so happens there was a petition circulating at the time to bring a highway through Bull City.

This female bulldozer decided Alton would be a perfect name for the community. She midnight requisitioned the petition, clipped off the highway supporters’ names, pasted them on the petition she’d put together to rename Bull City and sent them in.

The rest is history – Bull City disappeared, and Alton remains.

While many of the families still have ties to Bull City, some also till the same soil the original settlers broke out of the prairie.

People who live here today, including Roach and her friends and neighbors, can identify with their ancestors’ early struggles and appreciate how they persevered with pride through both good times and bad to make their rural community a better place to live. Alton citizens rely on that same sense of community spirit to carry on where their ancestors left off.

The weekend event is filled with friends, fellowship and fun. Saturday morning began with a car show including a 1950, low-slung, cream-colored Mercury, an early Model T and a cherry ’56 Chevy Bel Air.
One of the biggest events of the day was the parade at 10:30. It lasted more than one hour. Eighty entries arrived to showboat before the crowd lining Alton’s Main Street.

Talk about a collection: antique farm tractors, a horse drawn buggy, the Bull City Rough Riders, fire engines, crop sprayers, the Osborne Junior and Senior High School Band and the Bull City Opry Company – something for everyone. The Massey family from Phillipsburg was named “Best Novelty” entry featuring a single-horse, two-seated buggy with two outriders on horseback by the judges – Homer Smuck, who lived and served as pastor at Mt. Ayr Friends Church south of Alton, Juno Ogle, Hays Daily News reporter and yours truly.

While many of the tractors had been restored to their one-time glory, some were original clanking relics. Each engine sounded unique sporting its own hum, roar, whine or pop. Everyone driving in the parade waved at the crowd.

Alton is a friendly town made up of hardworking, honest people. Many of the inhabitants and those from neighboring communities are farm and ranch families. Like their counterparts across the state, these livestock and grain producers are proud of their occupations and their communities.

“There were a lot of unsung heroes working behind the scenes to make our annual event a success,” Roach says. “There is a real sense of caring for others here. If our children are running around, we know about it. We focus on nurturing our young people. We want them to interact with the older folks and develop an understanding of their past.”

That said, the Alton Jubilee isn’t all serious stuff either. Old timers retold tales, people became reacquainted and conversations lasted well into the evening.

Back on Main Street, Osborne County Farm Bureau members passed out free watermelon. The line for barbecued brats and burgers stretched for nearly a block. And dessert, well let’s just say the ladies of Alton know how to bake a pie and top it with homemade ice cream.

The Alton Jubilee is an event people in this part of Kansas look forward to and will for years to come. Talk about a small world, while visiting with Wayne Brent, Alton native, I discovered a family thread that linked the two of us together.

Seems Brent was quite a basketball player in his day – the mid ‘50s. After we met and shook hands, he asked me if I had any relatives in Selden (small town in northwestern Kansas). I told him I did and that my dad’s older brother, Uncle Herman and all his clan, hailed from this small Sheridan County town.

“You know, I played against a Schlageck in ’57 when Alton played Selden,” Brent told me. “He was a big guy and he leaned on me the whole game. He was quite a ball player too.”

He also told me Alton won that post-season game and I told Brent that his opponent was my older cousin, Junior, named after my Uncle Herman.

If you travel through Kansas and take the time to visit with people, you often find that you know someone, that someone you meet also knows. It’s great to know you hail from a small town in Kansas, and that’s what the Alton Jubilee is all about.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.