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Kansas educators and lawmakers push mentoring, childcare and special-education funding to stem teacher turnover
Summary
A legislative roundtable with Kansas teachers, administrators and school board members highlighted mentoring programs, unaffordable childcare, pay concerns, special-education funding and CTE transportation as primary drivers of teacher exits and possible levers to retain staff.
Lawmakers and education leaders met in a House committee roundtable and cited mentoring, childcare costs, pay, special-education funding and mental-health supports as key factors driving teachers from Kansas classrooms.
The panel included classroom teachers, principals, school-board members and state education representatives who described a mix of classroom challenges and out-of-school pressures that make retention difficult, particularly in teachers’ second and third years on the job.
“Mentoring is vital,” said Jill Johnson, a math teacher in the Shawnee Mission School District and president of NEA Shawnee Mission. “On my first three years I had an amazing mentor that taught me everything I needed to know and I could go to them, I could call them on the weekend when I had a question or I was upset or had a bad day. And if that's not there, you start to feel alone.”
Multiple speakers urged stronger mentoring that extends into a teacher’s second and third years. Katie Warren, an elementary teacher and president of United Teachers of Wichita, described a peer-consultant model that provided weekly one-hour support for first-year teachers and improved retention when the intensive support was sustained into later years.
Childcare affordability emerged repeatedly. Todd Dane, principal at Shawnee Mission South High School, said his school lost seven early-career teachers in three years because they could not find or afford child care: “They wanted to stay but they can't afford it,” he said.
District and interlocal officials gave data underscoring financial pressure. Kevin Cole, a USD 506 board member and KSB president, cited a retention survey showing 54% of teachers hold a second job and 67% are concerned about salaries. Representatives of a southeast Kansas interlocal said its excess special-education cost totaled about $6.1 million this year; a 15% assessment to member districts would require roughly $915,000, with one district’s share roughly $121,000.
Speakers pressed for several policy responses: fund and extend mentoring programs; consider scholarship, tuition-reimbursement or loan-forgiveness programs to lower barriers to entering the profession; evaluate retirement benefit differences raised under “KPERS 3”; fully fund special-education excess costs; and preserve CTE transportation funding that helps students access vocational programs.
Other issues included shortages of paraprofessionals and substitutes, mental-health supports in schools, and the “grow your own” registered teacher apprentice programs that allow paraprofessionals or local college students to train while working in schools. Tina Ray Scott, a KASB past president and USD 417 board member, highlighted affordable housing shortfalls in rural districts, which force teachers to commute long distances and make recruitment competitive with nearby districts.
Panelists did not take formal action; the roundtable served as information gathering for lawmakers. Several committee members asked the panel for concrete criteria that define an effective mentor teacher and for follow-up on proposals such as loan forgiveness, targeted scholarships and options to stabilize special-education financing.
The committee adjourned after the roundtable with members thanking participants for the testimony.
