© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Up To Date

Vaccine Passport Ethics | Walton Fellowship Teachers

Woman seated (right) while receiving COVID-19 vaccination in February 2021.
Carlos Moreno/KCUR 89.3
The U.S. government has decided to leave laws pertaining to vaccine passports up to the states.

Missouri's lawmakers are debating banning vaccine passports and first-year educators discuss their experience teaching in the COVID-era.

Segment 1, beginning at 00:54: As more Americans receive COVID-19 vaccines, state legislatures are debating whether they should implement a vaccine passport system.

While proof of vaccination has the potential to get us back to normalcy more quickly, it can also exacerbate the inequities in the American vaccine distribution system. We discuss the ethics of vaccine passports, and the steps Republicans in Missouri's legislature are taking to prevent them.

Segment 2, beginning at 24:48: The student population in this country is growing more diverse, and there are advantages to having teachers who reflect that diversity.

Two fellows from the Walton Family Foundation's teacher diversity initiative describe their first experiences teaching that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Maria Martinez, Emporia State student, teaching kindergarten at Mark Twain Elementary in Kansas City, Kansas.
  • Khalil Jones, UMKC student, teaching at East High School, Kansas City, Missouri.
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As Up To Date’s senior producer, I construct daily conversations that give our listeners context to the issues of our time. I strive to provide a platform that holds those in power accountable, while also spotlighting the voices of Kansas City’s creatives and visionaries that may otherwise go unheard. Email me at zach@kcur.org.
As senior producer of Up To Date, I want our listeners to hear familiar and new voices that shine light on the issues and challenges facing the myriad communities KCUR serves, and to expose our audiences to the wonderful and the creative in the Kansas City area. Just as important to me is an obligation to mentor the next generation of producers to ensure that the important conversations continue. Reach me at alexanderdk@kcur.org.