TOPEKA (AP) – Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration holds three town hall meetings on childhood poverty next week, and critics are planning to have a news conference ahead of the first one.

The town hall meetings take Monday at Jack Reardon Convention Center in Kansas City, Wednesday at the Drury Hotel in Wichita and Thursday at the athletic complex at Garden City Community College.

All begin at 1:30 p.m. The administration says the meetings will include brainstorming about ways to combat poverty.

But three groups critical of the administration plan a news conference at 1 p.m. Monday outside the Kansas City convention center. The groups, led by the Kansas chapter of the National
Organization for Women, say they’ll discuss how they believe Brownback’s policies create hardships for children.