We are sharing this post from our friends at Johnson County Educators. We also were forwarded Rep. Schwab’s email and find it yet another example of spin by some of our electeds who claim to support our schools, but whose actions clearly demonstrate they do not. We also note that Rep. Schwab does not send his children to Olathe public schools. Recipients of this email were not limited to subscribers to Rep. Schwab’s communications.
From Johnson County Educators: “Several Olathe educators have forwarded the following spam email they received from Rep. Scott Schwab yesterday through their school district email. We debated whether to post this nonsense, but believe it is valuable to share with the broader community the propaganda an elected official is promoting to teachers via taxpayer-supported resources. We’d like to hear from Olathe educators if they received the same email. We’ll soon post a rebuttal to the inaccuracies Rep. Schwab is spewing, but we’re headed to school early this morning. We encourage you to contact Rep. Schwab to let him know your thoughts on school finance and the methods he is using to promote his views to educators.” Here is the text of the email.
Dear Teachers and Associates of the Olathe School District,
I wanted to reach out to you this month because of concerns I have with where the leadership of the district is leading you. Dr. Berry sent a very depressing email on or around July 17 talking about the dire disposition of the districts finances. Members of the Olathe Delegation to the Kansas Legislature were more than disappointed in his communication with you for a few reasons. First, it kills morale. It is difficult to go with passion into your daily work when the district’s top leaders are pulling your heart out of it. It was sad to see such poor leadership, with no good regard to how it would effect your daily work and life.
The other issue was the premise of the entire email that the district was somehow cut in aid from the state. This could not be further from the truth. When the legislature passed the block grant bill this last session, Chairman Ryckman and others worked tirelessly to make sure Johnson County Schools were not harmed. With the block grant bill passed this year, OSD’s funding from the state actually went up by $450,000. From 2014-2017, the state aid to OSD is an increase of 8.7%. OSD even reports the increase to the department of education in the link below (see page 7). This amount does not include the additional KPERS the state also added to the district. What is worse, is the leadership completely mislead when they said the district would gain over 350 new students this year. The district actually added only 138 new students. That is not even 1/2 a student per classroom. So the idea of the increased costs due to increased enrollment does not exist.
Another issue is the lack of use of Local Option Budget. The district actually cut property taxes which decreased it’s own funding. The school board, influenced by the superintendent, actually cut taxes to their own hurt. The district could increase the local option by 2 mills raising over $4MM to help in aid. This money could be received without a vote of the public. It also would be such a small amount per household, that house payments would not be effected.
Another advantage of the block grant is now the term “Capital Outlay” is irrelevant. In years passed when teachers and others tried to negotiate their contracts and knew the districts moneys available, the district would often say employees could not be compensated with those dollars because it was “outlay” money and could not be used to increase teacher and staff pay. That excuse in now gone, and the district can now move the money where they need to in order to make sure you are compensated fairly. Because of these reasons, other districts like Topeka are increasing teacher and staff compensation.
So I could not understand why Dr. Berry would depress you in that email, and show inaccurate state funding levels. When I realized that the KNEA contract with OSD was up, it finally all made sense. Now, I am going to be completely honest. I am not a huge fan of the KNEA, and I am often frustrated by the organization. That said, you have a right to negotiate your labor contract with the board, and you should have confidence the superintendent is negotiating in good faith with you. He is not. Misrepresenting state funding to the district, not utilizing local dollars to make the artificial pain look real, and then misrepresenting enrollment levels is a breach of integrity I cannot stomach. I cannot encourage you enough to hold the line and make sure the district compensates you fairly for your hard work. While leadership is trying to undermine your position by misrepresenting resources, you should be confident in this…..they have all the money they need to make sure your paycheck and benefits are what you deserve. It is your right. Please do not go in negotiations assuming you are asking too much. And if you need help in finding those numbers, just let your legislator know, and we will get you what you need. I hope the best for you in your negotiations going forward.
On another note, as we move forward on a more equitable and consistent finance method, please let us know your thoughts and concerns. We absolutely want those who work in OSD to be a part of the conversation. Out goal as legislators is to get more money into the classroom. Any ideas you have to help us do that would be much appreciated. Thank you so much for what you do everyday for the children of Olathe.
Sincerely,
Rep. Scott SchwabKansas House Dist. 49
Kansas House of Representatives
Paid for Campaign to Elect Schwab
Debra Edler, Treasurer