We have a lot of thoughts on our recent experience testifying in a hearing that was supposed to be on SB 142-the governor’s plan for funding the inflation adjustment that appears to be the only hurdle between us and a constitutionally adequate school finance plan. One noteworthy occurrence was when Rep. Thomas asked the Kansas PTA citizen advocate a question about raises given to Shawnee Mission employees in 2018. First, we note the questioner was Rep. Thomas who you may recall “won the 26th District seat in the Kansas House of Representatives despite being arrested and charged with election perjury in September. He allegedly gave a false address when he filed paperwork declaring his candidacy.” He originally wanted to ask his question of the Game On member presenting our testimony, but there were too many questions being asked of her, so Chair Kristey Williams told Rep. Thomas he would get to ask his question of the next proponent of the bill, which turned out to be the Kansas PTA volunteer.
Rep. Thomas appeared to be relying on a Kansas Policy Institute piece from the summer and asked the proponent if he was aware that SMSD had a $5.6 million increase in payroll in 2018 and asked if he knew how much went to teachers. He then asserted that only $467,000 went to teachers and told the proponent that made him livid. He and Chair Williams used this “information” to make the point that local districts don’t properly allocate their funding. Chair Williams exasperatedly asked the PTA proponent if how local districts spends their money matters.
There are several problems with this question. First, both our member and the Kansas PTA member were there as representatives of statewide organizations and do not have detailed information on individual budgeting decisions of every district in the state. Second if Rep. Thomas had mentioned the source of his information, the proponent might have been able to give a more definitive answer, because SMSD area advocates were aware of this piece when it came out. We particularly remember that it used Dr. Southwick’s pay increase he received when he became acting superintendent in their calculation of “raises.”
Most importantly, SMSD personnel has reached out to the committee to provide them with correct information. It turns out that in 2018-19, certified staff (generally teachers) received $2,765,880 in raises, classified staff (generally non-teacher, non-administrator staff) received $778,566 and administrators received only $129,040. We are providing this information here for any who were listening in the hearing on Monday as well as to illustrate what sometimes qualifies as factual inquiry in committee hearings.
Citation for quoted information about Rep. Thomas: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article222921095.html?fbclid=IwAR2-zzFKZfemjKsqrYL6SzSPYXkjChv3VWNiN1uFWHc7ypizFE3J4eAMjFw
Originally posted on Facebook 3/23/19