Suzanne Perez
Suzanne Perez is a longtime journalist covering education and general news for KMUW and the Kansas News Service. Before coming to KMUW, she worked at The Wichita Eagle, where she covered schools and a variety of other topics.
Suzanne grew up in North Carolina and earned a bachelor's degree in English from North Carolina State University. She moved to Wichita in 1990 and has two children. When not reporting, Suzanne enjoys reading, walking her dog, and obsessing over every new leaf on her houseplants.
Suzanne can be reached by email at perez@kmuw.org.
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A Derby resident said she filed her challenge to illustrate the consequences of censorship. The Bible is used as a textbook in Derby High School’s “Bible as Literature” course, a one-semester elective.
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Library users tend to return books in a timely way even when they don't face fines. And libraries might save money by putting less effort into collecting small fees.
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"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie was challenged by the grandparent of a Derby ninth-grader. A district committee decided to no longer allow teachers to use the novel in lessons and to remove it from the library at Derby North Middle School.
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According to the subpoena, Kline convened a meeting between then-President Donald Trump and 300 state lawmakers in an attempt to “disseminate purported evidence of election fraud” and ultimately overturn the 2020 election.
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Derby school board member Andy Watkins said he raised concerns about the video because he thinks terminology used in it “has a direct tie to critical race theory,” and he was concerned about “making this terminology … the norm.”
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In a statement before the Kansas Board of Education's private session Friday, board president Jim Porter criticized the governor and others for publicly calling for Watson to resign.
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Gov. Laura Kelly says commissioner Randy Watson should resign for "derogatory and discriminatory language" he used last week during a conference.
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Controversy about the video centers on its mention of white privilege, a phrase that refers to inherent advantages granted white people over people of color on the basis of their race.
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Under a proposed Parents' Bill of Rights, Kansas K-12 schools and libraries would no longer be exempt from obscenity laws, opening them to potential criminal charges if they distribute material found to be harmful to minors.
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The episode illustrates an ongoing debate over lessons about racism and discrimination in Kansas schools. Critics say schools’ efforts to promote diversity can breed white guilt and accelerate racial conflict.