In a 9-1 vote, Kansas City, Kansas Schools won approval to hire unlicensed teachers for the classroom this fall.
More than 70 professionals applied to teach certain subjects at the middle and high school level. Out of that group, 18 were interviewed and KCK wants to hire 15 of them.
BREAKING: @ksdehq board approves @kckschools hiring of 15 unlicensed teachers in a 9-1 vote. @41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/R3DlfyAUvo
— Dia Wall (@DiaWall) June 14, 2016
The candidates will complete a six-week training and receive a $2,000 stipend. Next school year they will teach select subjects.
Subjects:
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Computer Science
- Math
- Social Studies
- Math
On Tuesday, the Kansas State Board of Education broke tradition and voted to approve the measure immediately.
Cynthia Lane, the superintendent of KCK Schools, said, "You know I was thinking about the Indiana Jones movie where he steps out on that bridge we can't see. We were making that step but I'm glad the bridge is there to let us move forward."
The lone opposition came from board member Steve Roberts who represents Johnson County.
He told 41 Action News that although he's a fan and supporter of Dr. Lane, "The proposal we did today, it almost papers over the problems. We're going to pat ourselves on the back and say look at the progress we made. We didn't make that much progress today."
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Dia Wall can be reached at dia.wall@kshb.com.
