We would walk to the ends of the earth for our children; Topeka isn’t so far.
Join us as we walk from Johnson County to Topeka March 27-29, with a final walk to the Capitol on the morning of Monday, March 30.
General Itinerary
- Friday, March 27 9:15 am Kickoff at Chatlain Park, located off of 63rd Street (Shawnee Mission Parkway) on 63rd Terrace and Carter Avenue in Merriam, KS. Speakers Janet Waugh, Kansas State Board of Education, Rep. Stephanie Clayton, Rep. Nancy Lusk.
- Saturday, March 28, 2015 8:30 am Sendoff at Eudora Elementary School, 801 E. 10th Street, Eudora, Kansas. Speakers will include Eudora Superintendent Steve Splichal.
- Saturday, March 28 around noon Rally at South Park hosted by Educate Lawrence. Speakers will include Rep. Tom Sloan and Rep. John Wilson.
- Monday, March 30 at 9:30 walkers will gather across the street from Topeka High School and walk to the Capitol. Speakers will include Rep. Rooker and Rep. Ousley. Press conference to follow.
For more information, contact us at gameonforpubliceducation@gmail.com, on our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gameonforksschools, or on our website www.gameonforkansasschools.com.
Watch a brief video on last year’s walk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_3EbCov8Js
Why are we walking?
We are walking to raise awareness of the continued underfunding of our schools and the recent promotion of other harmful policy provisions that threaten our schools and the education of our children.
Funding-while “throwing money at a problem” doesn’t fix it, failing to adequately fund Kansas public schools will have devastating short- and long-term consequences for all Kansans. Further cuts to education due to the state’s low revenue stream are happening now and will continue.
Judicial Selection-recent proposals to change how judges are selected in Kansas are a direct result of Kansas court decisions holding that the state is underfunding its schools and would result in our loss of an important recourse.
Changes to Local and School Board Elections-we currently face efforts to move school board elections so that primaries are held in August (when many families are on vacation) and general elections are held in November, which would have school board members taking office in January, in the middle of the school year. There are also efforts to make these elections partisan, which would change the nature of these elections, preclude service members from running and cause many others to avoid facing partisan battles and be unwilling to serve on school boards.
Corporate Tax Credit Scholarships-the first ALEC corporate tax credit scholarship provision was pushed through in a bundled bill in the late hours of the end of the 2014 legislative session. It allows corporations to take tax credits (not just deductions) for donations to a scholarship granting organization which grants “scholarships” to low-income students to be used at private schools, though there are no accountability requirements for the schools receiving the scholarships. It removes money from the state general fund while failing to ensure that students receiving the scholarships get a strong education. There is currently a bill to expand eligibility for this program.
Attacks on Teachers-our teachers have been called bullies and union thugs, and there have been several bills attacking their rights to organize and negotiate. At a time when they are facing increasing demands in terms of student demographics, skills required of students upon graduation, new curriculum, new technology, rising class sizes and faltering wages, we believe continued attacks on teachers will cause good teachers to leave the field and bright young minds to look elsewhere for careers.
Charters and vouchers-a major component of the ALEC agenda/Florida Reform Model is support for vouchers, “scholarships”, charters, online schools and other similar “reforms”. Already tried in other states, these “reforms” do not improve student performance but they do siphon funds away from the true public schools, which serve all children, and they do put public funds into private hands. While we have not seen much activity on these types of bills this session, there was a large push for them last session and they may yet arise this year.