TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas had more than 300 vacant teaching positions at the beginning of this school year. Officials from the Kansas Department of Education said the numbers showing there were 317 vacant teaching positions in early September are from the first stage of a study the department is conducting to determine why some districts can't fill certain positions. The Wichita Eagle reports that the state Department of Education previously administered a survey for the U.S. Department of Education on teacher demographics. But this year the state started conducting its own deeper survey. School districts reported their vacant teaching positions as of September 1, and in February will tell the district whether they filled those positions and if not, what factors were responsible. The Wichita school district had the most vacancies with 64.