Kansas City Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS)

Teachers at Kansas City Public Schools will soon be paid the highest starting salaries in the region — but just by a smidge. The school board approved a new union contract in the middle of a widespread teacher shortage that's making districts across the region compete to recruit and retain educators.

Thousands of Kansas City area students are homeless, but one local district has managed to find many families permanent housing and employment. Plus: Kansas City turned the town red during yesterday's Super Bowl parade.

Impact KCK in the Kansas City, Kansas school district is a national model for how communities can address student homelessness by bringing different organizations and resources together to connect families to stable housing, jobs and other services.

High schools in the Kansas City metro have seen students bring guns and drugs to school at the same time gun homicides and drug overdoses have been increasing on both sides of the state line.

During a lengthy discussion regarding a proposal to place 1,600 cameras in classrooms across the district, Board of Education members committed to having future public discussions on the matter after facing criticism over a lack of community feedback.

Este mes los estudiantes del área de Kansas City regresan a la escuela. Mientras tanto, los distritos escolares se esfuerzan por contratar suficiente personal en medio de la escasez nacional de maestros.

Kansas City area students are heading back to school this month. Meanwhile, school districts are pushing to hire enough staff amid a national teacher shortage.

Schools are finalizing schedules and prepping classrooms for the start of a new school year. Two superintendents share how they've prepared and where resources are falling short.

Kansas City Public Schools has a new interim superintendent, who has big plans for the district and says she knows "exactly what we need to do to move forward." Plus, a Kansas City woman shares her abortion story.

Black children are at higher risk of drowning than white children. A public-private partnership in Kansas City, Kansas, tries to address the problem by providing free swimming lessons for 200 local students.

Kansas City Public Schools superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell is exiting after six years. He led the struggling district through some major transitions — including regaining full accreditation — and tells KCUR he leaves the district in a "much better situation."

The Wyandotte High School students learned from advocates for the homeless before spending the night in tents and makeshift shelters. The students did most of the planning for the event, their teacher said.