“A report prepared for consideration Tuesday by the Kansas Legislature’s committee on K-12 education declares the current testing approach fails students, describes the method of identifying at-risk students as discriminatory and urges state government oversight of school bond proposals before they are placed on a local ballot…
“Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat on the K-12 committee, said material and conclusions in the report closely resembled recommendations offered by the Kansas Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that has sought for years to reorganize public education. Dave Trabert, president of KPI, testified to the K-12 committee…
“In the report, the authors discount the standard approach to identifying at-risk students based on whether their economic status allows participation in the free- or reduced-price lunch program. This method is inadequate, the report says, because it ‘implies that poverty determines an individual’s ability to learn. This thinking is discriminating and has no place in education.’ The report suggests the state shouldn’t rely on family poverty information…
“The 11-page document suggests regular committees of the Legislature ought to study the cost and benefit of accepting federal funding for education given regulatory requirements attached to those grants.
“All extracurricular and co-curricular activities in Kansas public schools ought to be investigated on the “basis of efficiency and efficacy to deliver education to the students,” the report said.
“Kansas legislative committees also should explore issues of teacher pay, specifically how to attract and retain ‘good’ teachers, the report said. There has been some discussion by the governor and others about implementation of merit pay adjustments.
Read more here: http://m.cjonline.com/news/state/2016-01-04/k-12-report-urges-significant-finance-academic-reforms#gsc.tab=0