Lawrence Journal-World 01-12-2015

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MONDAY • JANUARY 12 • 2015

Disability education to get a boost

LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS

FOLLOW THE MAJORITY Starting today, all eyes will be on conservatives’ plan to reshape Kansas By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock

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s the 2015 legislative session gets underway today, conservative Republicans will enjoy an almost unprecedented level of power, giving them a unique opportunity to reshape government. From overhauling the school finance system to changing the way state Supreme Court justices are chosen and revamping local government elections, analysts say conservative Republicans in the Kansas Legislature now have the chance to consolidate a vast amount of political power under the Legislature and governor. “It makes sense for Gov. (Sam) Brownback,” said Chapman Rackaway, a political science professor at Fort Hays State University. “His philosophy from the very beginning has been that he thinks the Democrats have been able to pepper other branches with appointees and people who thwart his agenda from going through, and so he

Top issues to watch:

By Elliot Hughes Twitter: @elliothughes12

l State budget: One of the first issues lawmakers will face is

Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to close a projected $280 million revenue shortfall in this year’s budget. His plan, much of which needs legislative approval, fills much of the hole with one-time transfers of money from other funds into the state general fund, creating about a $648 million budget hole for next year. Brownback will outline his budget plan when he gives the State of the State address at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. l School finance: On Dec. 30, a three-judge panel in Topeka ruled for a second time that public schools in Kansas are unconstitutionally under-funded and suggested as much as $548 million in additional money might be needed to correct the problem. K-12 education funding already makes up about half of the state budget. The state is likely to appeal the ruling, which could delay the need to take action for at least another year. But Brownback and many Republicans have said they want to completely overhaul the school finance system that has been in place since 1992. l KPERS: Lawmakers passed a major overhaul of

the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System in 2012, but this year the state is having trouble making the increased contributions that were promised for the troubled pension system. Brownback has called for taking another look at the pension system and has even suggested turning it over to a private insurance company to manage. Please see ISSUES, page 5A

Please see MAJORITY, page 5A

A project funded by one of the largest research grants in Kansas University history and that aims to change education for students with severe cognitive disabilities is nearing completion. “This is really the start of something that I expect is going to eventually radically SCHOOLS change education,” said Neal Kingston, the man behind the project. Since 2010, Kingston, a KU professor of psychology and education research, and his colleagues have been working to build a new system for state education departments for measuring the progress of students with cognitive disabilities. The project is called Dynamic Learning Maps. It’s a computer program that essentially visualizes all the things a student should learn, in successive order, in English language arts and math. And it orders it all like a massive road map, displaying different paths a student can take to learn a skill, such as understanding what an emotion is and building up to why a character in a text would feel a certain emotion. If a student is having trouble learning a skill, the map allows teachers to track back and identify a gap in the student’s knowledge that blocks him or her from advancing. “You need a road map,” Kingston said. “That’s what we’re about.”

AP File Photo

Please see SYSTEM, page 2A

Lawrence named America’s most hungover city Boasts more than 2 dozen bars, liquor stores per 100,000 people

By Rochelle Valverde Twitter: @LJWorld

Lawrence has been named the most hungover city by Business Insider. The business and technology news website ranked the 25 Most Hungover Cities In America using a score based on five indicators: prevalence of heavy drinking, prevalence of binge drinking,

and the number of bars, liquor stores and breweries per 100,000 people. With a hangover score of 90.22, Lawrence ranked number one on the list. Manhattan came in at number four, with a score of 85.74. T.K. Peterson, co-owner of Merchants Pub and Plate,

ness Insider website, 8.6 percent of Lawrencians reported heavy drinking and 25.9 percent reported binge drinking. Per 100,000 people, there are 28.3 bars, 24.8 beer/ wine/liquor stores and 1.8 alcoholic beverageproducing establishments. Business Insider used

INSIDE

Cold Business Classified Comics Deaths

High: 26

said he wants bar patrons to have a good time but that the restaurant is careful not to over serve. Merchants, 746 Massachusetts St., offers 30 beers on tap. “We’re happy to be a part of a lively college town that definitely has a drinking scene,” Peterson said. According to the Busi-

Low: 3

5A 5B-9B 7A 2A

Events listings Horoscope Opinion Puzzles

4A, 2B Sports 10B Television 6A 10B

1B-4B 8A, 2B

two main sources of data, We always the CDC's 2011 Behavioral hope that Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual survey everyone is of Americans' health hab- safe and doesn’t its, and the Census Bureau's 2012 County Busi- take it too far.” ness Patterns program, which tracks the number — Brittany Reynolds, Lawrence bartender Please see HANGOVER, page 2A

Role models wanted

Vol.157/No.12 18 pages

Big Brothers Big Sisters serving Douglas County needs more than 100 new volunteers to fill the need of its male youth mentoring program. Page 3A

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Today’s forecast, page 8A

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