We’re no longer just predicting education cuts. We can’t afford silence and complacency. Time to make your voices heard, Kansas. Who’s up for a walk in March?
That leaves the most important state expenditure: public schools.
This is where the state spends half its entire budget. Let’s consider this very carefully. The calculus behind cuts to K-12 education must be exactly right, because this is the politically high-risk area.
Legislators and the governor are already saying Kansas schools are inefficient. Cuts are coming and indeed more were ordered last week.
The answer to the inefficiency, of course, is to consolidate school districts and to close schools that are mostly empty. But that will never happen, because voters in small towns would revolt.
Inasmuch as the vast majority of a school district’s expenses are for teachers, the logical way to deal with cutbacks is to squeeze the districts, forcing them to reduce the number of teachers and, thus, increase class sizes.
If every classroom in every district in Kansas suddenly increased its class sizes by, say, five to seven students, how much would parents care? And how much would those without school-age children care? Maybe not much, or maybe a whole lot.
If there is one area of cutbacks that could bite the legislators or the next Republican nominee for governor, it would be increased classroom sizes. That may be the tipping point in triggering a rebellion against the conservative Republicans, because a whole lot of Kansans will feel the impact, and a lot of Kansans might care.
The above scenarios are not some made-up game I am playing. It likely is the real deal.
The question is, how many Kansans will truly care about these cuts, as their taxes are being lowered?
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/steve-rose/article9468359.html#storylink=cpy