Published August 13, 2026 at 4:07 PM CDT

When Dr. Jennifer Collier stepped into her role as interim superintendent for Kansas City Public Schools in 2022, improving child literacy rates was a top priority.

Since Collier became the permanent superintendent in 2023, the district has seen expansion of the LETRS program, which trains elementary educators to teach reading from a science-based approach that emphasizes phonics and phonemic awareness.

Collier said that while the program has grown, the district needs more support because the “literacy issue is a community issue” when many adults fall behind on literacy assessments.

“Sometimes some of them (parents) may have time to do it, some may not. Some of them may not even have the skills themselves to be able to teach their own children,” Collier told KCUR’s Up To Date.

In Independence, teachers arrived in their classrooms Thursday to begin preparing for the start of the school year, which will bring new leadership from Dr. Vickie Murillo, who began as superintendent in July.

Both Murillo and Collier said their districts have fewer teacher vacancies than previous years.

“We're looking for two more teachers, but that's not bad at all at this time of the year because as you know and Dr. Collier knows, the number of graduates coming out in education is shrinking right now. So we're all fishing, I say, in the same pond, competing for teachers that are graduating from the university,” Murillo said.

• Dr. Jennifer Collier, superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools
• Dr. Vickie Murillo, superintendent of Independence School District