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Tim Carpenter

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Teachers union to get tough
Amid budget constraints, group to fight for better salaries, benefits
By Tim Carpenter
February 9, 2004
The union representing Lawrence’s 900 public school teachers is preparing to take a more aggressive approach to shaping education policy in the district. Wayne Kruse, president of Lawrence Education Assn., said advocates in the union would insist the administration and school board retain a commitment to reducing student class sizes, start chipping away at the avalanche of paperwork and meetings required of teachers, and improve salaries and benefits.
Teachers’ group to suggest four-day school week
By Tim Carpenter
February 7, 2004
Good news for Lawrence public school students: Three-day weekends could be on the way. But it’s a desire to avoid bad news — teacher layoffs, too-large class sizes and program eliminations — that’s behind proposed school schedule changes from the city’s teachers union.
Nonprofit foundation’s assets reach record $6 million
By Tim Carpenter
February 4, 2004
A dental clinic for the poor and working poor estimates it will help 3,000 Douglas County residents this year, in part because of the jump start it got from a 3-year-old charity that has focused on improving the quality of life in Lawrence.
District makes plans to cut $2 million from budget
By Tim Carpenter
February 4, 2004
The Lawrence school district’s budget committee Tuesday got a glimpse of what it could mean to slice a minimum of $2 million from next year’s budget.
Budgeting puts schools to test
Weseman’s criticism of state plan angers education lobbyists
By Tim Carpenter
February 2, 2004
The telephone rang — again — in Lawrence Supt. Randy Weseman’s immaculate office. It was another messy long-distance call from Topeka, where education lobbyists and political figures privately bristled at Weseman’s public condemnation of a flaw in the education spending plan Gov. Kathleen Sebelius presented to the 2004 Legislature.
County makes case for schools sales tax
Supporters, foes face off at Senate hearing
By Tim Carpenter
January 30, 2004
Used car salesman Leo Kerwin didn’t claim Thursday to be a tax-policy expert. Nor did he portray himself as an authority on public education in Douglas County.
Lawrence school official touts tax plan
By Tim Carpenter
January 29, 2004
(Updated Thursday at 12:42 p.m.) TOPEKA - The Lawrence school board’s president today urged a Senate committee to give Douglas County voters the option of increasing their taxes to improve public education.
Lawrence not only district with declining enrollment
By Tim Carpenter
January 27, 2004
The Lawrence, Garden City and Derby school districts are separated by hundreds of miles of Kansas prairie but are part of the same peculiar educational trend. Despite general population increases of 18 percent or more in each of the cities from 1990 to 2000, and double-digit growth in public school enrollment during the decade, all three districts have now posted at least three consecutive years of enrollment decline.
District plans for $1.5 million in cuts
By Tim Carpenter
January 27, 2004
The Lawrence school board agreed Monday to plan for $1.5 million to $2 million in spending cuts to create a “survive-and-advance” budget for next school year.
Study: Classified school workers underpaid
School board agrees to reorganize jobs, salary structure
By Tim Carpenter
January 22, 2004
A majority of the Lawrence school district’s 750 classified employees are underpaid, officials said Wednesday, and it will require about $800,000 to bring their wages to a competitive level. In response to a California consultant’s study, the school board has agreed to reorganize the classified employee system.

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