As the final part of the 2016 walk to Topeka, several Game On members offered statements explaining the meaning of the walk. Some speakers spoke extemporaneously, but we are including the written statements of those who had them.

Judith Deedy, Game On for Kansas Schools executive director, mother of 3 children in the Shawnee Mission School District

Thank you for coming today. I’m Judith Deedy, Executive Director of Game On for Kansas Schools and a mother of 2 6th graders and an 8^th grader. Game On is a true grassroots effort. We are Republicans, Democrats and Independents from across Kansas. We are parents, teachers and other concerned community members. We have no paid staff, and we are not a PAC. We are people who have decided we can’t sit idly by while Kansas schools are threatened.

This year walkers converged on Topeka from the east, the south and the west. They endured blistered feet, aching muscles and even rain and hail. Walking to Topeka hurts. It hurts after about 2 hours, yet our walkers pushed through the pain to make bring attention to the need for all of us to take a stand and protect the education of Kansas children.

We are here today because we feel that the voices of Kansas parents, teachers and other public education supporters are not being heard. We are here to say that we want an adequate and equitable school funding formula that is designed to ensure that all Kansas school children have the opportunity to achieve their potentials. We are disappointed to hear so much discussion of rising costs without also hearing about increasing demands and needs. We are concerned not only about where we are now, but the direction we are heading. We view our public schools as the most critical economic development tool we have and our children as our most valuable natural resource. We believe Kansas public schools are an investment, not merely a cost. We refuse to be pitted against one another. Kansas is a state, and Kansas children must have their educational needs met whether their districts are urban, suburban, rural, wealthy or poor.

We have been stunned this session by the onslaught of harmful bills. We would like to see a process where educators and parents are consulted before bills are introduced so we can all spend less time on bills that don’t pass, and bills that do more harm than good if they do.

We know teacher morale is low. We value our partners in advocating for our children’s education and know the importance of being able to retain and recruit talented educators. We would like to see an end to bills targeting teachers and would like to see them treated as the valuable professionals they are.

We value an independent judiciary and view attacks on our courts and judges and justices as retaliation for school funding decisions they have issued. We believe in a judicial branch that requires adherence to our state constitution’s requirements for public schools, and we will work to defend it. We respect the role of the Kansas State Board of Education and believe the legislature should do so as well.

So, we have 5 simple requests. Listen to us. Base funding for schools upon need. Let the teachers do their jobs. Let the courts do their jobs. Let the state and local school boards do their jobs.

And until those requests are heeded, we will keep growing our network and advocating for our children.

We are not where we want to be, but we have hope. We have seen several bills pulled this session after constituents voiced their disapproval. We see that more Kansans are paying attention and contacting their legislators. They are making their voices heard and advocating for their children and their fellow Kansans’ children. This walk is part of our ongoing efforts to educate Kansans about issues in public education and to encourage them to “get in the game” and participate in the political process that determines the fate of our public schools and our children. Together we will stand up for the children of Kansas and protect their schools.

Before turning this over to our other speakers, I want to thank all of the hundreds of people who have participated in this year’s walk. We had over 15 3-day walkers. If you were a 3-day walker, please stand. We had over 75 more people who walked significant portions. If you were a walker, please stand. In addition to those showing their support for public education by walking, numerous other volunteers have driven support vehicles, transported walkers to and from daily starting and ending points, organized and attended the walk, various kickoffs, sendoffs and rallies and provided meals, snacks and beverages for the walkers. Other education advocacy groups including Educate Lawrence, Kansas Families for Education, Goddard Advocates for Public Education, KNEA, Mainstream Coalition, Kansas PTA, Johnson County Educators and others have supported this year’s walk. If you were a walk support person in any of those roles, please stand.

We also want to add a huge thank you to all of you who have joined us today as well as those who have shared our information on social media and in person, and who have been contacting their legislators during this session. Thank you and keep it up!

Jeffrey Sykes, 3rd time 3-day walker, support person during first walk, father of 2 sons in Olathe School District

Before I begin, I want to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you to the excellent logistical support that provided meals, snacks and rides. Without your help, we never would have made it. Thank you to the other walkers. The walk is such an excellent time to get to know others and the conversation was uplifting and helped to distract from the pain. I also want to say thank you to my wife who joined me for the entire distance. Having you as my partner in life and this walk makes everything better.

I want to say an extra special thank you to the teams from Emporia and Manhattan. When I joined Game On three years ago, my fervent wish was that our organization would expand and find like-minded parents across the state. Finding friends to walk with us reminds us that none of us are alone.

I am a father of two boys. As a parent I am learning new things all the time. Now that I have a fully-fledged teenager I’ve learned a bit about being ignored. The other day I noticed that my son had failed to put away the clean laundry in his room. Now in the list of offenses my son could commit, this falls pretty low on the list. At the same time, I don’t like our families rules being ignored or specific instructions being disregarded. There are other times when the instructions I give either seem to vanish into the vapor or get lost inside his head.

Now let me be clear. I do not like being ignored. When I am ignored, I tend to get louder. Parents, teachers and concerned community members across our state are being ignored by the folks that work in this building. We have written, we have testified, we have walked and we have been ignored. I know this to be true because I hear stories across our state of legislators ignoring their constituents. I know this is true because I read stories of legislators whose minds are made up before bills are heard in committee. I, like many other Kansans, am sick of being ignored.

As a father I’m also developing an excellent half-truth detector. My son was going to visit his grandparents. He told me that he had left his laundry out so that it would be easier to pack. I looked at him and we both knew that the story he had concocted was not true. Parents and teachers know when we aren’t being told the entire story. The stories being told around this building are designed to divide Kansans. Some seem to think the only way they will be able to equitably fund schools is by taking from some to give to others. They seek to pit urban vs. suburban vs. rural. They seek to pit public education against public safety. They seek to divide east from west. They seek to tell stories about our courts being undemocratic when they don’t like the rulings.

I am here today because what is exceedingly clear is that no matter what we say or how we say it, our concerns will be ignored by the bodies that reside in this building while their composition remains unchained. The citizens of Kansas must speak in a way that cannot be ignored. We must speak in August and in November. Further it is only as all Kansans stand together that we have any hope of addressing this issue. We cannot be divided between urban, suburban, and rural.We cannot be divided between east and west. We should not have to choose between public education and public safety. We must stand together.

Becky Plate, 3-day walker this year, helped with Eudora send-off event in 2015, mother of 2 daughters in the Eudora School District

I walked for my children. My children only have three and four years left of public school. Right now is all they have. They will not be able to make up for lost time later. This is their time, right now.

Eudora is a district of just 1600 students, but because we are a property poor district, the block grant system hit us especially hard, cutting half a million dollars from our budget for this year. Hits like this make it a struggle for districts like ours to provide experiences that allow our students to shine, such as AP classes, fine arts and extracurricular activities. That may sound frivolous or like extras, but this inequity, these budget cuts to public education threaten the ability of kids in those harder-hit districts to be competitive for higher education programs, scholarships and in the workplace right now, not only nationally, but even within this state. Our kids can’t wait for a new administration. Now is their time!

I walked because Kansas employers deserve a well educated work force to help them grow their businesses.

I walked because Kansas educators deserve access to the tools they need to teach the child in front of them, every child in front of them regardless of their income, abilities or address.

I walked because Kansas Kids deserve law makers who tell them, not only with their words, but with their actions, that they are a priority. Kansas Kids deserve leaders who tell them that Kansas Kids are worth teaching, every Kansas Kid. Kansas Kids deserve legislators who they can be proud of and look up to, not ones who look down on Kansas families and lack the ability to see the potential in those very kids that they were sent here to serve.

I walked to wake up my neighbors in Eudora and all across the state. To tell them to ask questions, and get to know who their legislators are. To support the good ones, and vote out the bad ones. To get Kansans to go out and vote in the primaries in August and in the general election in November. To remind them that their vote does matter in Kansas!

I walked to raise awareness about the need for adequate and equitable public education funding in Kansas right now! An investment made in public education in Kansas right now is an investment in our state’s economy that pays out each year as we graduate high school seniors and in the long term future of this great state. I walked because every kid in Kansas deserves a top notch education, not a bargain basement one. And to make sure that more voters know that any legislator who is trying to sell Kansas Kids a bargain basement education is selling all of Kansas short.

Devin Wilson, 3rd time 3-day walker, support person during first walk, father of 2 sons in the Shawnee Mission School District

I walked for my kids. I’ve been politically active for 1091 days after first seeing news about a woman from Merriam who was walking to Topeka to raise awareness of issues facing Kansas schools.

I walked for their teachers, doing more with less every day.
I walked for ALL Kansas schoolkids.
I walked for our duly elected who stand with us, who vote for us, even at great political peril.

I had the pleasure of walking with some great folks from Emporia this year.
Yesterday, Gloria was up at 2am baking cinnamon rolls & Kolaches, and we ate fried chicken for lunch.
I got to talk science with a couple science teachers.

We are making a difference. We’ve seen several bills pulled this session after the public voiced their concern. We’ve seen electeds being called out offering false choices and some
elected expressing their frustration that people are paying attention! IT’S WORKING!

As a wise person once told me, “It’s a marathon not a sprint.” It’s small ball taking us to the playoffs.

If we can walk 60 miles, the least everyone can do is vote. We just need to make sure we bring our friends & neighbors to the polls!

They heard us the past few weeks, pulling district consolidation and the defunding of gifted education.
They hear us right now.
They will hear us at the voting booth.

Game On on 3. 1, 2, 3-Game On!

Also making statements were Heather Ousley, 4-time 3-day walker who first came up with the idea of walking to Topeka and mother of 2 children currently in the Shawnee Mission School District and one to be in kindergarten next year; Aaron Estabrook, 3-day walker in 2015, organizer of the Manhattan leg this year, member of the Manhattan Ogden School Board, father of 2 children in the Manhattan Ogden School District and a new baby; Erica Huggard, 3-day walker and organizer of the Emporia leg, biology teacher in the Emporia School District and mother of two young children; and State Board of Education member Janet Waugh.

     

Rep. Don Hineman and Sen. Laura Kelly also spoke to the crowd as they gathered across the street from Topeka High School before proceeding to the Capitol.