These are not tweaks, and yes, this would set up schools and the children they serve for failure. These are bad ideas which cannot be separated from their end game: cut funding for schools until it’s low enough to fit the low revenue stream of the great Kansas experiment instead of being based on what Kansas children need.

“Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has also proposed repealing Kansas’ school funding formula and replacing it with block grants to each school district. This came after a panel of three district judges ruled December that the state needs to spend at least $548 million more to fund schools at a constitutionally appropriate level under the formula.

“Mike O’Neal, president of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said he supports the move and would like to see the governor take it further. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce is the state’s largest business group and has been a major backer of conservative candidates.

“O’Neal said he would like to see the state move to a funding model for public schools in which districts would have to compete for specific grants and potentially make structural changes in order to receive the funds.

“‘I don’t want to set up any schools for failure, but we need to change the mentality of, if they don’t get good results, ‘well it was probably because we didn’t get enough money,’ O’Neal said.”

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/feb/15/kansas-lawmakers-seek-classroom-tweaks-school-budg/