TOPEKA — In what founding document does the phrase “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” appear? Why did the United States enter the Persian Gulf War? Why do U.S. representatives serve shorter terms than U.S. senators?

These are among the 128 questions on the U.S. citizenship test, and they could become study material for Kansas students.

Under a bill that also mandates teaching students about the dangers of communism and socialism, high school freshmen would be required to take a 100-question exam based on the civics test that prospective U.S. citizens take during the American naturalization process.

lumps the test into state-mandated American history and civics classes in public and accredited private and parochial schools, and students would have to pass the test before earning a diploma.

The bill passed the Senate on Thursday in a 26-14 vote. It also requires the State Board of Education to craft curricula that teaches K-12 public school students about “negative impacts of communist and socialist regimes and ideologies.”

The bill is rooted in conservative circles concerned about anti-Americanism and contested statistics that purport Gen Z Americans are attracted to communist and socialist ideals. Sen. Brad Starnes, a Riley Republican and former school superintendent, put forth the bill and assured the House Education Committee on Monday that neither the civics test nor the curricula will replace existing units on American history.

The committee on Tuesday approved an amendment to the bill to add fascism to the curricula.

Research on younger generations’ inclination toward socialist or communist causes is muddy. A 2019 Gallup poll found millennials and Gen Z, ages 18-39, . As a whole, however, Americans still than socialism.

Joshua Reynolds, a policy analyst for Cicero Action, a conservative think tank’s advocacy arm, backed the bill, citing three separate polls indicating favorable views of communism and socialism among 18-39 year olds.

Reynolds cited in testimony a 2020 poll from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation that “63% of Gen Z and Millennials believe that the Declaration of Independence guarantees ‘freedom and equality’ better than the Communist Manifesto, compared to 95% of the Silent Generation.”

Leah Fliter, assistant executive director of advocacy for the Kansas Association of School Boards, said socialism and communism curriculum might be inappropriate and complex for early grades.

“We feel that this bill has been drafted without looking at the Kansas state standards for graduation,” she said Monday.

The Kansas State Board of Education already recommends instruction on communism and socialism, according to Monday testimony from board members Cathy Hopkins and Beryl New. The board, they wrote, “has established history, government and social studies standards that prepare students to be informed, thoughtful, engaged citizens as they enrich their communities, state, nation, world and themselves.”

If passed, both of the bill’s provisions would go into effect July 1, making next school year’s freshmen the first group to be required to pass the civics test as a condition of graduation.

During the naturalization process, most prospective U.S. citizens must complete an interview and citizenship test, which consists of an English portion and civics portion. People must answer at least 12 of 20 civics questions correctly, which are selected at random from a cache of about foundational American events, figures, principles and procedures. Kansas high school students would have to take a 100-question exam containing questions substantially similar to those that appear on the citizenship civics test, the bill said.

Arizona has required its high schoolers to pass a civics exam based on the U.S. citizenship test since 2017, and in 2026 raised the passing threshold, requiring students to answer at least 70 of 100 questions right instead of the original 60. Wisconsin has required the test since 2015.

Arizona only offers the test in English while Wisconsin offers versions in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese.

The Kansas proposal does not specify a designated language. Students could request to take the test as early as seventh grade, and they can take it as many times as necessary to pass. Students must get an 80% or higher on the test to pass.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.

TOPEKA — A Kansas elementary school principal who invited an evangelical Christian missionary to pass out Bibles to students during their recess in May violated the First Amendment, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas warned Monday in a letter to the district.

Katie Struebing, the principal of East Elementary School in the roughly 2,000-person city of Belleville, invited a member of the evangelical Christian organization Gideons International, Ben Dreesen, to hand out Bibles to students during recess on May 7, wrote Monica Bennett, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, in the Monday letter. Gideons International is often credited with the introduction of Bibles to American hotel rooms.

Ahead of Dreesen’s visit, Struebing told staff that she would visit classrooms at the roughly 250-student school to inform students of “the nice man” handing out Bibles, according to . A student’s parents informed the ACLU about Dreesen’s visit.

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Bennett wrote that Struebing allowed Dreesen on school grounds during school hours, accompanied him while he passed out Bibles to students and involved fellow school district staff in the matter. The principal lent her “credibility and authority” to Dreesen, “in effect placing a stamp of approval on his message and subjecting students to a religiously coercive atmosphere,” Bennett wrote.

Plus, the principal violated the Republic County school district’s own policy, which states that district employees aren’t allowed to use classrooms to “promote or convey” religious viewpoints, Bennett wrote.

The goal of the letter was “to educate and remind the principal and the school district what’s required with respect to separation of church and state,” Bennett told Kansas Reflector.

The First Amendment and U.S. court decisions require neutrality from government institutions when it comes to establishing or favoring a religion or nonreligion.

Struebing declined to comment, directing the Reflector’s inquiry to the school district superintendent, Tami Knedler, who did not respond.

This is at least the second incident in Kansas this year involving Bible distribution to students in public schools. In April, Butler County school district employees informed parents they intended to invite Gideon missionaries to hand out Bibles to Bluestem Elementary School students, according to the letter. District officials gave parents the option of excusing their children from the visit if they provided signed permission slips.

“After receiving criticism, including from Christian parents, invoking the First Amendment separation of church and state clause, the district walked back the decision,” Bennett wrote.

The public is aware of the law when it comes to religion in public schools, so school officials ought to be aware of the law as well, Bennett told the Reflector. In the letter, she referenced a and a that indicated the majority of Americans do not believe public schools should be influencing religious beliefs.

“It’s important to point out that our laws recognize the rights of individuals to worship, or not worship, according to their own conscience, and they have the right to pass on whatever their beliefs are onto their children,” Bennett said.

School districts should respect that, she said.

“The ACLU of Kansas strongly discourages you from welcoming missionaries on school grounds to distribute Bibles in the future,” the letter said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on and .

TOPEKA — Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park interpreter Jeff Tully says Kansas entered the union as an anti-slavery state in 1861, but in less than two decades the Kansas Legislature passed a law allowing cities of more than 15,000 residents to segregate elementary schools.

The law applicable to Topeka’s youngest, most impressionable children stayed on the books from 1879 until the 1950s.

“This was the state that wrote in our Constitution, ‘We forbid slavery,’ ” Tully said on the Kansas Reflector podcast. “Yet, 20 years later, we’ll start segregating African American kids in primary schools.”

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Lawson Nwakudo, another National Park Service interpreter at the national historical site in the Monroe Elementary School, said that peculiar state law and the excellent Black-only schools in Topeka drew the interest of the NAACP, which was forming a legal strategy that sought to demonstrate to justices of the U.S. Supreme Court the harm inherent in a system of “separate but equal” schools and the necessity of disassembling segregated classrooms across the nation.

“Not only were these educators incredible, but they’re actually more educated than their white counterparts,” Nwakudo said of Topeka’s Black elementary school teachers. “The reason why the NAACP wanted to focus on Kansas, on Topeka, was because there was that level of equality. If they could prove there’s something inherently wrong with a place like Kansas … that would mean that there’s something inherently wrong with everywhere else.”

The consolidated court case, known as Brown v. Board of Education, resulted in the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision May 17, 1954, that declared state-sanctioned segregation of public schools to be a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of one of the century’s most significant court decisions, Washburn University in Topeka will present the play “Now Let Me Fly” at 7 p.m. May 17 in White Concert Hall. It examines the journey of heroes and heroines in the legal fight for equality in education. Admission is free with online ticket registration at or by calling 785-506-7768.

“There are many characters, many people who were involved with the Brown decision,” Nwakudo said. “This play gives you basically a feeling as to what that was like, and what their lives are like moving through and a little bit after the Brown case.”

The parents in Kansas, Delaware, Virginia, South Carolina and Washington, D.C., who signed on as plaintiffs in what evolved into the Brown v. Board case placed themselves and their children in harm’s way, he said. The lead plaintiff was Oliver Brown, who had a daughter eager to enroll in the Topeka school closest to her home. She was denied access and was required to attend a segregated Black school further from home.

Nwakudo said the stakes were higher for other plaintiffs than they were in Topeka.

“There are some people who are being threatened and other people had their houses burned down. Whereas in Kansas, there still was possibly of an economic threat where your jobs can be threatened. That’s partially why 12 of the 13 complainants were housewives,” Nwakudo said.

Tully said the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Site organized a homecoming celebration for former students, staff and teachers at Topeka’s historically Black elementary schools from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 18 at the park’s headquarters in the former Monroe Elementary School. The invitees include those with ties to Monroe, but also to Buchanan, McKinley and Washington elementary schools in Topeka.

“At 12:52 p.m. on May 17, 1954, nine Supreme Court judges unanimously said ‘separate but equal’ was inherently unequal,” he said. “We thought Monroe would be the natural place to have this homecoming of sorts.”

The day’s program will include a roundtable discussion among former students from all four schools, followed by a sit-down lunch (registration for the meal is closed), musical entertainment and the taking of class pictures on the front porch of Monroe Elementary. There will be family and group activities on the north lawn. At any point during the day, visitors can contribute their stories and memories to an oral history project and the Kansas State Historical Society will be available to take digital images of documents and memorabilia related to the Topeka schools.

Nwakudo said the transition to integrated schools produced violence and all sorts of maneuvering to delay implementation of the Supreme Court’s orders.

“That is a major uplift for a lot of places, especially in the South, where these children could step away from these one-room shacks that were their schools. No electricity and no indoor plumbing,” he said. “There was a quite a bit of resistance. Places like Tennessee put forth a 12-year plan to desegregate their schools. Virginia tried to resist in any way they could, and actually ended up closing down a lot of their schools across the state.”

He said his message to visitors to the National Historical Park, especially school children, was that they had “power to make a positive change in our lives, just like their predecessors did. We can draw knowledge and strength from those past experiences, to galvanize ourselves to do more to do better.”

Tully said the National Park Service site south of the Kansas Capitol was among 428 National Park units in the United States. The site in Topeka measured barely 1 acre — a far cry from the 2.2 million acres of the Yellowstone National Park and the 1.2 million acres of the Grand Canyon National Park.

“But what happened in a building in Topeka, Kansas, along with four other court cases around the United States, was probably, in many scholars’ opinion, the single most important 20th century Supreme Court decision,” he said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on and .

TOPEKA — More than 50 colleges and universities in Kansas agreed to drop application fees Tuesday through Thursday for residents of the state regardless of age or income interested in seeking undergraduate degrees or certificates.

The opportunity to submit applications for free was extended by the six state universities supervised by the Kansas Board of Regents, Washburn University in Topeka, 19 community colleges, six technical colleges and 21 private independent colleges.

Jon Rolph, chairman of the Board of Regents, said the objective of the first statewide free college application period Nov. 7-9 was to temporarily discard an impediment to higher education and potentially increase the state’s rate of college attendance.

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“The Apply Free Days initiative is part of the board’s effort to remove barriers to application and entry for Kansans, making our higher education system more affordable and accessible for all,” he said. “Kansas colleges and universities offer a wide range of program options that help students meet their career goals.”

In the past decade, Kansas’ college-going rate has declined. In 2021, 59.5% of Kansas high school graduates enrolled in a college, university or certificate program. The disinterest also was revealed when less than half of the state’s high school graduates submitted college financial aid applications.

Waiver of the application fee was extended to first-time freshmen, transfer students, returning students and those seeking a second bachelor’s degree. The initiative covered general applications, certificate programs, associate degree programs and bachelor degree programs. It doesn’t include applications for graduate school programs.

The Board of Regents said Apply Free Days information could be found at . Students uncertain about what college option was best for them could use KSDegreeStats.org to explore the cost of degrees and potential earnings of graduates.

Prospective students may start and save an online application any time, but the fee would be waived only if the application was submitted during the three-day window.

However, Kansas colleges and universities have application programs available throughout the year to assist individuals enduring financial hardships. It is free to apply year round to the 19 community colleges. Pittsburg State University and Washburn University removed application fees.

Private colleges in Kansas not part of the Kansas Independent College Association may not be participants in the Apply Free Days network.

The state Board of Regents recommended potential students apply to college and then submit a free application for . The FAFSA would provide information about student grants, scholarships and work-study positions that could reduce the cost of a college education. Another option would be to apply for state aid through the .

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on and .

TOPEKA — Kansas teachers of the year rallied at the Statehouse to push for a clean K-12 education funding bill, joined by Gov. Laura Kelly in an attempt to sway lawmakers before the veto override session begins.

Kelly, who showed up to support the teachers during their Tuesday gathering, said the school funding debate had been longstanding, but she was confident a fully funded school bill would arrive at her desk by session’s end.

“Right now, the issue is fully funding our schools and not diverting public funds to private schools,” Kelly said.

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The 13 teachers present for the gathering asked for a school funding bill that fully funds Kansas public schools and special education, as well as one that doesn’t send tax dollars to private schools not held to the same standards as public schools.

During the regular legislative session, neither chamber attempted to take up the proposed K-12 education funding bill.

was criticized because it was a massive piece of legislation that blended state funding for K-12 education with provisions from about nine other bills, including funding for mental health needs in schools, a form of parental rights legislation, and an extension of the statewide mill school finance levy.

Some form of a K-12 education funding bill is expected to be discussed and voted upon in the next few days.

Throughout the legislative session, public education has been criticized by some lawmakers, who say Kansas students are graduating without the ability to read or write.

Some legislators have also supported “parental rights,” the idea that parents need to be granted additional oversight of classrooms to prevent their children from being taught radical ideas.

Shannon Ralph, 2015 teacher of the year, said teachers were being treated unfairly by those holding such assumptions.

“I think it’s fair to say that teachers are generally feeling attacked, and it’s confusing to me because you will not find more genuine, giving, loving people. Teachers are there for kids. It’s just very confusing to me,” Ralph said.

Tracy Taylor Callard, 2002 teacher of the year, echoed Ralph’s sentiment.

“I think we all know public schools are under attack,” Callard said. “If you watch television, if you are on social media, you see that we’ve been demonized.”

Another piece of legislation, a much-debated voucher program that would allow unregulated private schools to receive state dollars and put federal COVID-19 relief funds toward special education, was canned by the Legislature. It might return in the coming days.

On Monday, Kelly vetoed a form of  that would allow parents to withdraw their children from courses or lessons they find objectionable.

Kelly said all of her vetoes, which include more than 20 bills and budget line items, were made after careful consideration.

“It’s  a record I’m proud to hold,” Kelly said. “I have looked very carefully at the legislation, I’ve signed those that I thought were in the best interest of the state, and I vetoed those that I didn’t think were in the best interest of the state.”

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on and .

TOPEKA — Attorney General Derek Schmidt responded to murder of 21 people in a Texas school’s fourth-grade classrooms with a package of ideas for enhancing school safety and moderating firearm violence that the Republican candidate for Kansas governor expects to gain bipartisan support.

Schmidt, who is seeking the GOP nomination in August, said his plan included $10 million annually in state grants to K-12 schools for building security. He would seek permission to apply federal COVID-19 pandemic funding to school-safety projects.

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He proposed deployment of more armed law enforcement officers and addition of more mental health counselors or intervention specialists for schools. Students and teachers should be better informed about a program that encourages reporting suspicious activity or threats, he said.

The attorney general said he would reintroduce during the 2023 legislative session a bill requiring convicted felons illegally in possession of firearms while committing new violent felonies to be sentenced for the weapons charge concurrently with penalties for the underlying crime. He submitted the same bill in February to the Legislature, but the House and Senate didn’t adopt the measure.

“Kansas kids deserve to feel safe in our communities and especially in our schools,” said Schmidt, who praised the GOP-led Legislature for its work on school safety issues. “We need leadership to keep us moving forward.”

His proposal didn’t include reforms under discussion by members of Congress in Washington, D.C., including universal background checks, a minimum age of 21 to buy an AR-15, a waiting period to purchase an AR-15 and red-flag laws enabling a state court to order temporary removal of firearms from a person thought to be a danger to others or themselves.

Lauren Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for Kelly’s campaign, said Wednesday the governor “has always been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and believes Kansans have the right to purchase firearms to keep their families safe and to hunt.”

“However, like most gun owners, Governor Kelly recognizes the need to balance this with the safety of our children,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said Kelly’s record of investing in school safety by increasing pay for law enforcement officers and by fully funding public schools were among reasons more than 125 Kansas educators across the state endorsed her reelection. Kelly also has support the red-flag laws allowing the courts to temporarily hold weapons for people in crisis.

“Governor Kelly will continue to ensure our schools have the resources they need and push the Legislature to send her bipartisan, common-sense gun legislation that keeps our kids safe in schools,” Fitzgerald said.

The issue of gun violence in U.S. schools returned to the national spotlight in May when an 18-year-old used an AR-15-style rifle to fatally shoot two teachers and 19 students in adjoining classrooms at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

It was the third-deadliest school shooting in the United States, surpassed by the Virginia Tech University massacre in 2007 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in 2012. A Virginia Tech student killed 32 people in Blacksburg, Virginia. In Newtown, Connecticut, a lone gunman killed 26 at Sandy Hook.

In March, Olathe East High School was the scene of a shooting in which a uniformed school resource officer and an assistant school principal were wounded along with the student shooter. All survived and the 18-year-old was charged with one court of attempted capital murder.

Schmidt, in a campaign policy statement about gun violence in schools, said the Olathe East incident demonstrated the value of having well-trained officers in schools. He said he anticipated his proposals could be enacted by state lawmakers in 2023.

“This plan helps more schools have a school resource officer and a mental health intervention team to protect students, provides funds to assist local school districts in securing facilities, improves our ability to discover threats before they are carried out and strengthens penalties for gun crimes committed by repeat violent felons,” Schmidt said. “It’s an overall approach that should garner a bipartisan consensus.”

Schmidt said he would recommend the state appropriate $10 million to finance security upgrades and to hire school resource officers. The Legislature and Kelly approved $7.5 million to expand funding of mental health personnel to 43 school districts in 2022 and $10.5 million to add 15 to 25 more districts in 2023. The attorney general said the state should continue broadening that financial support statewide.

In addition, Schmidt said the state should request help from the Kansas congressional delegation to secure permission from the federal government to divert unused COVID-19 pandemic funding to school security priorities.

The state could build on a collaboration between the KBI the state Board of Education to gather criminal intelligence related to threats in private and public schools, Schmidt said. Existence of the program should be more widely known so students, teachers, parents and others are more included to participate, he said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on and .