Education

Kansas high school students Amanda Johnson and Reegan Innes have won Wichita State University's Harry Gore Memorial Scholarships.

Innes and Johnson will receive $13,000 a year for four years to attend Wichita State.

The scholarships, awarded annually, recognize leadership and academic skills and are two of the largest undergraduate scholarships in Kansas.

Amanda Johnson

Among the state’s public universities, Wichita State graduates are most likely to get a job and stay in Kansas.

According to a study from the Kansas Board of Regents, 73.6 percent of WSU graduates between 2007 and 2009 got a job in Kansas within a year of graduation.

Butler Community College leaders are considering a proposal to ban smoking and tobacco on all of its campuses. A task force presented its findings last week to the college's Board of Trustees. The board could vote on the issue in March.

Butler currently bans smoking inside campus buildings, but smoking is allowed outside 25 feet from the buildings. Bill Rinkenbaugh, one of the school's vice presidents, estimates the college would spend between $25,000 - $30,000 on signs and educational materials to implement the ban.

About a dozen Kansas colleges have banned tobacco.

According to Education Week's annual rankings, Kansas' public schools are 37th in the country.

The publication released its 2013 "Quality Counts" rankings today, and Kansas' overall grade was a C. The state received a B minus for its standards, assessments and a category called "chance for success." Kansas earned an A for early childhood education, but an F for "college readiness." The rest of the categories were mixed, with Kansas getting a D+ for K-12 achievement, a B+ for workforce readiness, and an A minus for school accountability.