“Yes, most Kansas teachers you talk to are mad.

“They’re tired. Politics and financial wars are wearing them thin, and some are leaving.

“But the notion — fueled by dubious state numbers — that teachers are stampeding by the thousands for the border or out of teaching altogether is highly overblown.

“New numbers broken down by school district, obtained by The Star, show a much more resilient teacher workforce.

“Teachers, The Star found through interviews and in new data, are more deeply rooted against what they describe as increasingly harsh winds.

“’I knew I would not get rich, but I never thought I would be under attack,’ said Ellen Stevens, measuring where she is now in 35 years of teaching, the last 28 in Kansas. She teaches fourth grade at Shawnee Mission’s Broken Arrow Elementary School.

“The legislative and judicial war over school funding “is terrible,” she said. ‘But I love my job. I love what I’m doing and I’m going to do it. That’s not going to change.’”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article35850300.html