Sen. Pres. Susan Wagle says K-12 funding is killing the budget. We think irresponsible tax policy is killing public education.

“‘A crisis is an opportunity,” [Wagle] said. ‘We have three cost drivers that are really killing our budget. One is K-12 formula. One is the KPERS (state pension system) debt. And the other is increases in Medicaid. And I believe he wants to structurally address those issues in his second term.’…During the speech, more than 100 teachers lined the entry hall to the House chamber, holding their hands up in a symbolic raising of hands for school children…Johnson County teacher Barbara Casey recounted a conversation she had with the mother of one of her fifth-grade students.

“‘I had to tell her that frequently, it is very difficult for me to address her son’s needs with 25 other students in the classroom,’ she said. ‘It’s not that I’m not prepared, it’s not that I’m not a good teacher, it’s not that I don’t care, it’s not that I don’t work hard, it’s that there is not enough support and there are too many children in the classroom.’

“She said she was disappointed by the speech.

“‘I did not hear anything from the governor that gives me any encouragement that the situation will improve soon,’ she said. ‘In fact … I don’t really understand how changing the school finance formula will help at all.’

“‘Our students deserve better than what we’re giving them right now.'”

http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article6749781.html