KANSAS CITY DISTRICT WILL START PHASING IN SCHOOL UNIFORMS THIS YEAR

Uniforms have long been a tradition at many private schools. In recent years, more and more public schools have tried uniforms or variations for student dress codes. Why?

The way children -- often with parental encouragement -- choose to dress in classrooms has become a hodgepodge of advertising emblems, profanity and indecency. And student behavior tends to mimic the lack of restraints on what they wear.

The much beleaguered Kansas City School District plans to phase in school uniforms starting with kindergartners this year. The plan is mostly a strict dress code that limits clothing choices to white or navy blue tops and tan or blue bottoms. For some cash-strapped parents in this urban district, the new school uniforms may prove to be a blessing.

It will be interesting to see how the Kansas City experiment turns out. Officials and parents in other public districts will be watching closely.