Dear Rep. Ryckman, Sen. Wagle, Sen. Denning and others, the problem is not the Kansas constitution, and the problem is not the Kansas courts. You have had options for dealing with our school funding situation. You didn’t have to pass a disastrous tax plan, which many told you would blow a hole in our state’s budget. You did not have to sit through the two years of the block grant without addressing our new school funding formula, which is now causing you to deal with the latest court decision as you enter the 2018 election year. You did not have to rely on a faulty application of the “Successful Schools Model” which failed even a basic common sense test of whether that model could arguably be a basis for school funding adequacy. You tried amending the constitution in 2016. You tried defending the tax policy in 2016. Kansas voters attempted to clear any remaining confusion by voting to retain our Supreme Court justices and replacing about a third of our legislature. The reason you are experiencing deja vu is that you keep repeating your errors. Public education advocates understand the hole we find our state in, but we also understand the critical importance of providing an adequate education to every Kansas child. That is a monumental task, but it is one that cannot be abandoned. We understand you find yourselves in a difficult situation, and we are open to creative solutions, but trying to undo your constitutional obligations to Kansas children is not a solution.