The last day for individual members to request bill drafts from the Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes was Monday, Jan. 27. At least 14 education-related bills were introduced during the third week of the 2025 Kansas legislative session. 

Bill tracker 

The following education-related bills were introduced this week:  

• HB 2102: 
  • Providing for the advanced enrollment of military students whose parent/guardian will be stationed in Kansas. 
    • Referred to House Committee on Education. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 4. 

 

• HB 2103: 
  • Including participation in certain learning experiences and agricultural activities as a valid excuse for absence from school. 
    • Authorizing school boards to make rules therefore. 
    • Referred to House Committee on Education. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3. 

 

• HB 2104: 
  • Standardizing firearm safety programs in school districts. 
    • Referred to the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6. 

 

• HB 2129: 
  • Transferring teachers from KPERS 3 to KPERS 2. 
  • Defining teachers for purposes of KPERS. 
    • Referred to the House Committee on Financial Institutions and Pensions. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 5. 

 

• HB 2136: 
  • Expanding student eligibility under the tax credit for low-income students scholarship program. 
  • Increasing the amount of the tax credit for contributions made pursuant to such program. 
  • Providing for aggregate tax credit limit increases under certain conditions. 
    • Referred to House Committee on Education. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 5. 

 

• HB 2137: 
  • Authorizing the Kansas State Department of Education to contract with a private vendor to install, operate and maintain school bus cameras. 
    • Referred to House Committee on Education. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 4. 

 

• HB 2138:  
  • Authorizing school districts to levy an annual tax levy of up to two mills for the purposes of school building safety, security and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
  • Including such levy in the capital outlay state aid determination for such school districts. 
    • Referred to House Committee on Education. 

 

• HB 2139: 
  • Increasing the minimum expenditure amount for school districts for contracted goods and services without requiring sealed bids and the minimum expenditure amount for goods and services that the district superintendent may acquire on behalf of the district. 

 

• HB 2140: 
  • Creating the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) educator position. 

 

• HB 2141: 
  • Requiring school districts to offer parents the opportunity to object to educational materials and activities that are not included in approved curriculum or standards, or that impair a parent’s beliefs, values or principles. 

 

• HB 2142: 
  • Requiring each school district adopt an independent review process as part of such district’s policies prohibiting and preventing bullying. 

 

• HB 2156: 
  • Establishing the education opportunity tax credit to provide an income tax credit for taxpayers with eligible dependent children who are not enrolled in public school. 

 

• HB 2176: 
  • Requiring the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) to establish a school classification system based on student attendance and a multiplier factor that adjusts certain schools’ student attendance. 

 

• SB 76: 
  • Requiring employees to use the name and pronouns consistent with a student’s biological sex and birth certificate. 
  • Authorizing a cause of action for violations therefore. 
    • Referred to the Senate Committee on Education. 

 

• SB 87: 
  • Expanding student eligibility under the tax credit for low income students scholarship program. 
  • Increasing the amount of the tax credit for contributions made pursuant to such program. 
  • Providing for aggregate tax credit limit increases under certain conditions. 
    • Referred to the Senate Committee on Education. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6. 

 

Other bills KSDE is tracking: 

• HB 2033: 
  • Including programs and services provided by nonprofit organizations accredited by the international multisensory structured language education council as approved at-risk educational programs. 
    • Referred to the House Committee on Education. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3. 

 

• HB 2034:  
  • Authorizing school districts to employ chaplains or accept chaplains as volunteers to provide support, services and programs for students. 
  • Prohibiting certain persons from serving as a chaplain. 
    • Referred to the House Committee on Education. 

 

• HB 2067:  
  • Establishing a feminine hygiene product grant program and grant fund to award monies to qualifying Title I schools to provide feminine hygiene products to students at no cost. 
    • Referred to the House Committee on Taxation. 

 

• SB 45:  
  • Excluding students who transfer to homeschooling or nonaccredited private schools from the alternative calculation of graduation rates for virtual schools. 
    • Referred to the Senate Committee on Education. 

 

• SB 47:  
  • Requiring school districts to publicly list the names and email addresses of current board members. 
  • Authorizing local school board members to add new agenda items to board meeting discussions, ask questions or engage in discussion with members of the public during meetings and access school property. 
  • The public may address the school board at meetings. 
    • Referred to the Senate Committee on Education. 

 

• SB 48:  
  • Requiring school districts to demonstrate improvement in academic performance and be in compliance with federal and state statutes and rules and regulations to achieve or maintain accreditation. 
    • Referred to the Senate Committee on Education. 

 

• SB 49:  
  • Requiring attendance center needs assessments be conducted by the local board of education and include input from board members, teachers, school site councils and administrators and that board members receive certain state assessment data and identify allocations of money in the district budget/summary. 
    • Referred to the Senate Committee on Education. 
    • A hearing for this bill is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6. 

 

• SB 75:  
  • Establishing the education opportunity tax credit to provide an income tax credit for taxpayers with eligible dependent children who are not enrolled in public school. 
    • A hearing for this bill was held on Tuesday, Jan. 28 (see below). 

 

 

Literacy in Kansas 

The conversation around literacy in Kansas continued this week in both the House and Senate Committees on Education. 
 

House Committee on Education 

On the House side, Education Commissioner Dr. Randy Watson on Monday, Jan. 27, continued updating representatives on KSDE’s literacy plan. He said KSDE is in the process of training teachers in the science of reading to make sure they have the knowledge and skills in order to teach reading. 

Approximately 8,000 educators are undergoing training in the science of reading and approximately 3,000 educators have completed training so far. KSDE should see results this spring.  

In an effort to assist the agency’s literacy efforts, Watson recommended expanding the stipend paid to teachers in the Blueprint for Literacy to include veteran teachers who complete the Seal of Literacy. 

 

Senate Committee on Education 

On Monday, Jan. 27, the Senate Education Committee heard a presentation from Dr. Cynthia Lane, director of literacy for the Kansas Board of Regents, on the Blueprint for Literacy. 

Lane told committee members one-third of Kansas children are struggling to read well and that improving their reading levels will “take absolutely every one of us working together” and “this is going to take some time.” 

With the $10 million the 2024 legislature appropriated in SB 438 for the blueprint, Lane said the board of regents, the Kansas State Board of Education and the Kansas State Department of Education are working together to create a coherent system to have pre-service and veteran Kansas educators get trained in structured literacy. 

She also outlined the plan for establishing Centers of Excellence in Literacy at the seven regents universities. The centers, Lane said, will provide regional professional development training and coaching for current educators in the science of reading/structured literacy. The centers are also expected to work with school districts “to provide assessment and evaluation of reading difficulties and develop literacy plans for individual students.” 

 

Hearing on SB 75 

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the Senate Committee on Education heard support and opposition to Senate Bill 75, establishing the education opportunity tax credit to provide an income tax credit for taxpayers with eligible dependent children who are not enrolled in public school. 

This bill, if passed, would provide an $8,000 tax credit for each dependent K-12 student attending a private school accredited by the Kansas State Board of Education, or a national or regional accrediting agency that is recognized by the State Board “for the purpose of satisfying the teaching performance assessment for professional licensure or is working in good faith toward such accreditation.” The bill also allows for a $4,000 tax credit for a dependent child enrolled in a non-accredited private school. 

For tax year 2025, the total amount of credits allowed would not exceed $125 million. There is a provision in the bill to increase the cap beginning in 2026. If 90% of the tax credits are used in a given year, then the cap on the tax credits will increase by 25% in the next year. It would only take 15,625 students to use up the $125 million cap at $8,000 per student. 

According to the bill, if the number of applications is more than the available amount of money available to pay the credits, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Revenue shall give priority to taxpayers who have previously received a tax credit under this section. 

Proponents of the bill championed parental rights and school choice while opponents stressed these tax credits, also known as vouchers, would disseminate rural schools and that public tax dollars should not be used for private education.  

 

2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year 

The 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year (KTOY) team was in Topeka this week for KSDE’s Legislative Conference. Team members prepared speeches to present to legislators at the Joint Committee on Senate and House Education meeting Wednesday, Jan. 29. They also were honored on the House and Senate floors.  

The 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year is Elizabeth Anstine, a business teacher at Leavenworth High School, Leavenworth USD 453. 

The 2025 KTOY regional finalists:  

• Whitney Aves, grades 9-12 family and consumer sciences, Hutchinson High School, Hutchinson USD 308. 
• Bejamin Eckelberry, first grade, Tecumseh North Elementary School, Shawnee Heights USD 450. 
• Ryan Mellick, grades 9-12 industrial technology, Bonner Springs High School, Bonner Springs-Edwardsville USD 204. 
• Amber Pagan, pre-K, Nieman Elementary School, Shawnee Mission USD 512. 
• Erik Stone, grades 5-8 band and vocal music, Gordon Parks Academy, Wichita USD 259. 
• Maegen Stucky, fifth grade, Roosevelt Elementary School, McPherson USD 418. 
• Olivia Winegeart, second grade, Paul B. Cooper Elementary School, Derby USD 260. 

 

To watch the KTOY team members’ presentations, click here. 

 

Up Next 

The Senate is adjourned until 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31. The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31.  

Monday, Feb. 3 is the last day non-exempt committees can request bill drafts from the Revisor’s office. This is the last day requests for introduction or sponsorship can be on non-exempt committee agendas. Wednesday, Feb. 5 is the last day for individuals to introduce bills in their originating chamber. Friday, Feb. 7 is the last day for non-exempt committees to introduce bills in their originating chamber. 

Several bills are scheduled to undergo hearings, including HB 2033, HB 2102, HB 2103, HB 2136, HB 2137, SB 49 and SB 87. 

Click here to see calendars and journals of the House and Senate, and agendas for committees. Click here for other useful links and information from KSDE.