The Wichita school board has directed staff to formulate a plan for closing some elementary and middle schools at the end of the spring semester. It’s a cost-cutting measure USD 259 hopes will save at least $16 million as Kansas’ largest school district scrambles to address a projected $42 million budget shortfall. Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld fielded questions Tuesday about the building closure process and the district’s financial path forward. Here’s what we know so far. “I think it’s fair to say we’re looking in the area of four to seven schools total,” said Bielefeld, who took over as superintendent in July. The school board will have [...]

Americans have long understood that their birthplace can significantly affect their futures, and academics have increasingly been able to connect tangible early life factors like where they live and the friendships they've cultivated with potential future income. Among the most recent studies shedding light on what's known as economic mobility—a person's ability to move themselves and their families up the socioeconomic ladder over their lifetime—are a series of papers authored by Harvard University researchers leveraging vast troves of social networking data. As part of a national analysis, Wealth Enhancement Group used data from Harvard University's Social Capital Atlas project to identify where in [...]