ANOTHER KU VICTORY!
Men’s basketball takes a bite out of the Baylor Bears with a 78-68 win. 1B
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TUESDAY • JANUARY 21 • 2014
State looks at accrediting districts, not schools By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Kansas education officials are preparing for what could be the biggest change in the way public schools are regulated in more than 20 years. For students and parents, the changes may be barely noticeable at first. But officials working on the project say it will give the public a better picture of how their schools are performing, and lead to more
meaningful improvements in the future. Perhaps the most noticeable change would be that Kansas no longer accredits individual schools, but instead would apply a new set of standards to districts as a whole, something that has never been done in Kansas, at least in modern times. “What we want to do is accredit a system, as opposed to individual silos,” said Deputy Education Commissioner Brad Neuenswander, who is lead-
“
What we want to do is accredit a system, as opposed to individual silos.” — Brad Neuenswander, deputy education commissioner ing the project. “What does a district look like that supports all buildings? Because we have some districts that have highperforming buildings and lowperforming ones, so where’s
the kink in the system?”
Outcomes-based In 1992, responding to nationwide concerns about high school graduates who lacked basic reading, writing and math skills, Kansas adopted a system known as Quality Performance Accreditation, commonly known as QPA. It was part of a national movement toward “outcomesbased education,” the idea of holding schools accountable for
A day of remembrance Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
LORETTA SEVERIN AND HER DAUGHTER ELLORIE, 5, OF LAWRENCE, were among those who took part Monday in a ceremonial walk from Strong Hall to the Kansas Union to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The ceremonies on the Kansas University campus were among several remembrances of the holiday over the three-day weekend.
what they produce in terms of student achievement. Since then, schools have been reviewed and graded each year according to various “quality” measures, such as having all teachers certified in the areas they teach, as well as “performance” measures, most notably student scores on standardized tests. In 2001, Congress took that a step further by passing No Child Left Behind, a law that imposed outcomes-based standards, Please see SCHOOLS, page 4A
Agencies look at KU Med to fill psychiatrist shortage By Ben Unglesbee bunglesbee@ljworld.com
A widespread shortage of psychiatrists throughout the state has some state agencies looking to the Kansas University Medical Center for help in training more. Shawn Sullivan, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, said his agency recently hired a consultant to review its operations. The consultant found that the See story, Page 3A agency, which manages three hospitals and contracts with 27 community mental health cenHEALTH ters, needed to budget for more than three extra psychiatrists to meet its service needs. “The problem with that is we can’t even come close to filling the psychiatrists that we have budgeted,” Sullivan said. Throughout the state all but five counties — Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte — are federally designated mental health professional shortage areas. William F. Gabrielli, who chairs KU Med’s ——— psychiatry department, said rural areas have Police still searching for 19-year-old woman who lived at his residence trouble attracting psychiatrists because the incomes are lower, there are fewer jobs availBy Peter Hancock for anybody, whether it was at to meet with family members at Sasko’s restaurant off and able for working spouses and there is “less of a phancock@ljworld.com work or outside of work. He and friends on Wednesday, on for about six years. She community of doctors,” making practice more helped me and some of the but did not show up. said she believes Sasko had difficult without a professional network. Friends and neighbors of other people he’s worked with McKinley would not say been allowing McLinn live in Harold M. Sasko say they with jobs. He’d give great ref- when the last time was that his house while she was going Broken pipelines remember him as a caring, Gabrielli also attributed the shortage of erences for you and all that.” anyone saw Sasko alive. through a rough period in her generous and psychiatrists to changes in a state program Sasko, 52, was found dead When officers arrived at life. quiet person in his home in southwest the home around 11 p.m. Fri“I don’t know all the details, that once provided incentives for psychiaand they were Lawrence Friday night. Po- day night, they found Sasko’s but she was going through try students who promised to work in unstunned by his lice had gone there to look for body. Police are still search- some rough stuff and he was derserved areas after graduation. The proviolent death. a 19-year-old woman, Sarah ing for McLinn, as well as a helping her out by letting her gram has since been narrowed by the state “He was to exclude psychiatry and other specialties. Brooke Gonzalez McLinn, vehicle that was missing from live there,” Reese said. probably the Additionally, Sullivan pointed to the who reportedly had been liv- the residence. The vehicle is Kimberly Qualls, a friend nicest person ing in the house with Sasko. described as a dark gray or of Sasko’s, said she was dating loss of Topeka’s Menninger Clinic, a I ever met,” According to police spokes- blue 2008 Nissan Altima four- Sasko in 2012 when he per- world-renowned psychiatric clinic that said Erin ReMcLinn man Sgt. Trent McKinley, door with a Kansas “In God mitted McLinn to move into moved to Houston in 2003, as another ese, a former McLinn’s family and friends We Trust” license tag, number his residence. A few months broken pipeline for trained psychiatrists. employee of last heard from her on Tues- AK149. Sasko’s at CiCi’s Pizza in LawPlease see HOMICIDE, page 4A Please see SHORTAGE, page 2A day, Jan. 14. She was expected Reese, 22, said she worked rence. “He would do anything
Employees remember homicide victim as caring
INSIDE
Much colder Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 23
Low: 17
Today’s forecast, page 12A
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Events listings 6A, 9A, 2B Horoscope 11B Movies 4A Opinion 10A
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11B 1B-6B 12A, 2B 5A-8A
One habit at a time Health coaches are becoming an alternative to personal trainers with their special style of lifestyle coaching. Page 5A
Vol.156/No.21 24 pages