Lawrence Journal-World 09-01-2016

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EUDORA FOOTBALL GETTING INEXPERIENCED PLAYERS UP TO SPEED. 1C TRUMP: CORE IMMIGRATION ISSUE IS AMERICA’S ‘WELL-BEING.’

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L A W R E NC E

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Thursday • September 1 • 2016

PUBLISHED SINCE 1891

DOES IT PAY TO LIVE IN LAWRENCE? Planning Wages in HOW WE MEASURE UP starts on many fields lag other school Kan. cities LAWRENCE: $31,950 funding Town Talk formula Here’s how the median wage in Lawrence compares to median wages in other Kansas cities, according to statistics from the Kansas Department of Labor. Also included are the median wages for several common professions in each community.

Journal-World File Photo

phancock@ljworld.com

Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

S

urely there is a condition known as Kansas City Envy. I don’t know what all the symptoms are — perhaps a Royals tattoo in an inappropriate place or maybe barbecue sauce in an even more inappropriate place — but there’s a new report that suggests Lawrence may have reason to suffer from the condition. The topic is wages — the issue that does a rare thing in Lawrence by producing agreement among a broad cross-section of the community. While we debate many things, there is widespread agreement that one of Lawrence’s real challenges is income levels that lag behind many other communities. If you want to magnify the issue, simply look at what some jobs pay in Lawrence and then see what they pay in Kansas City. A recent report by the Kansas Department of Labor makes that comparison and several others. The 2016 Kansas Wage Survey isn’t a perfect instrument, but by surveying thousands of businesses across the state, it provides one of the better ways to compare what one type of job pays in one community versus another. So, let’s take a look at what it says about Lawrence.

Lawrence’s 15 percent tax If you work in Lawrence instead of Kansas City, you generally should expect to make about 15 percent less, according to broad figures from the wage survey. Don’t take that number too literally — the reality is the gap varies widely by profession — but, on average, wages are 15 percent lower in Lawrence than the Kansas City metro. (Note: The metro means both the Kansas and Missouri side of the community.) Here’s a look at the median salary for Lawrence and other communities: > WAGES, 4A

By Peter Hancock

Art, design, entertainComputer ment, sports programming: & media: $57,970 $28,170

Legal professions: $55,490

Education professions: $45,030

Architecture & engineering: $79,690

Medical professions: $58,940

KC METRO: $36,850

T opeka — Gov. Sam Brownback and leaders of the Kansas State Department of Education said Wednesday that they want to hear ideas from the public and education groups about what the state’s next school funding system should look like. In a letter to dozens of edu- Brownback cation groups across the state and the general public, Brownback issued an open call for ideas, calling it “an opportunity to help shape the next generation of education in Kansas.”

AP Photo

$44,460

$76,060

$63,990

$39,980

$71,210

$59,810

TOPEKA: $34,720

> FUNDING, 2A

Retired prof gives $1.5M for Melville professorship By Joanna Hlavacek jhlavacek@ljworld.com

AP Photo

$41,010

$64,320

$58,600

$41,690

$59,740

$56,200

MANHATTAN: $30,990 Contributed Photo/Wikipedia

$34,510

No data available

$44,070

$43,320

$59,890

$55,800

In her 34 years at the University of Kansas, Elizabeth Schultz’s accomplishments ran the gamut from teaching the first ecocriticism course ever offered at a Chinese university while visiting the country as a Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer, to spearheading — along with a cohort of female students, faculty and staff — the Schultz fight for gender equality at KU as a member of the storied February Sisters. But Schultz, a professor emerita of English at the university, is perhaps best known today as one of the world’s foremost scholars on Herman Melville and his most famous work, “Moby-Dick.” Now, more than 15 years after her retirement from teaching, Schultz hopes to ensure the study of Melville and his contemporaries for generations to come at KU.

Sylas May/Journal-World Photo Illustration

L A W R E NC E

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VOL. 158 / NO. 245 / 24 PAGES

Pleasant CLASSIFIED..............6C-9C COMICS.........................10C

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High: 79

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DEATHS...........................2A EVENTS.........................  10A

Low: 56

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Forecast, 8A

HOROSCOPE................... 6A OPINION..........................7A

PUZZLES......................... 6A SPORTS.....................1C-5C

> SCHULTZ, 4A


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