Here’s another cut to education.
“Kansas school districts this year will get less than half the monetary incentive they expected from the state as part of a 2012 initiative to enhance career and technical education.
“A memo sent to school districts from the Kansas State Department of Education last week says the per-pupil payment for students who obtained certificates in certain high-demand fields will be ‘approximately $450’ for the just-completed school year. That’s down from a $1,000 per-student incentive promised in the initial legislation…
“[SKDE’s Dale] Dennis said the incentives were cut because ‘the money wasn’t there’ in the final appropriations bill lawmakers approved earlier this month. The appropriation for CTE incentives to districts was cut from $1.5 million to $750,000, he said…
“’This was a program – a good program – started by the state with a vision and a promise,’ said Gail Jamison, president of the Goddard school board.
“’It is effective, and we are making strides. But you don’t start a program and then get three or four years into it and then drop your support.’…
“Several local K-12 officials, though, say the reduced incentive to school districts looks like the state has reneged on its promise to invest in career and technical education…
“’Anytime we have a budget shortfall, we have to look at increasing fees … taxes, user fees, higher classroom sizes, doing more with less,’ Jamison said. ‘Cutting opportunities for students is one of the last things we want to have to do, but it’s a reality as the dollars shrink, you have to figure out what to do.’”
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article25701169.html