Over the past two weeks on our Facebook page we have shared videos from #ksleg leadership including House Majority Leader Chris Croft, Chair of the K-12 Education Budget Committee Kristey Williams and Chair of the House Education Committee Adam Thomas showing them treating teachers and school boards as enemies, scheming how to continue to underfund special education, and talking about how to dissolve local school boards. This is who they really are and what they think about public education. It’s particularly offensive that their campaigns don’t share what they say in private. They know their constituents support public education so they claim to support it in forums, on postcards and on your doorstep, but when they think they’re just among their allies, they say what they really have in mind. We don’t have videos for all of the members of our bench, but you can look at their votes and understand they are part of this. They either believe the same things as leadership or are willing to follow them and sell out your schools, your teachers and your kids. Croft, Thomas and all the legislators on our bench have opponents this November. #beaninformedvoter
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These videos are linked and summarized below.
Chris Croft on Dissolving School Boards
Shared to Facebook 11/3/2024
Rep. Chris Croft is no friend of public education despite what he says while campaigning! This leaked Zoom clip at the 49 second mark is informative.
Croft: “I also found out that we can dissolve the school board. You can do it by petition. And I owe you guys the specifics on how to get that done and I will be doing that because I am so stinkin’ excited about the possibility there.”
Maria Holiday, Chairwoman of the JOCO Republican Party: “I feel like you should insert an evil laugh.”
Croft: laughs, “I like that.”
Holiday: “Mwahahaha”
Croft: “Yeah. So yeah.” [gesturing pinky to the corner of his mouth].
We’re not laughing, we’re just hoping people understand Croft and the other legislators on our bench do not support public education and are actively looking for ways to undermine it.
Croft and Kristey Williams Discuss Cutting Funding for Special Education
Shared to Facebook 11/3/2024
Want to understand the calculations and rationale for the special education funding formula? Ask an expert with the state department of education or a school district financial officer. These services are important, but as seen in this video, state Reps Chris Croft of Overland Park (HD8) and K-12 Education Budget Committee Chair Rep Kristey Williams of Augusta (HD77) are pursuing accounting gimmicks to get out of their constitutional obligation to Kansas kids.
The costs of special education services are intended to be shared by the legislative bodies who MANDATE them – under federal and state laws, with SOME local district responsibility to help inform the REASONABLE part of parent requested accommodations. Neither the feds or state have been covering the costs of their mandate and instead have passed along over 30% total excess costs to local districts, any way you slice the numbers.
The formula has been litigated twice in lawsuits that took more than 20 years to resolve. The formula is sound, but the last Kansas legislature to pick up their full share of special education excess costs was in 2011.
Most public school communities already max out their local property taxing authority. So even if patrons were willing to cover the state and fed shortfall, they couldn’t. Public schools have to use general education dollars to fund mandated SPED services, shortchanging all children. Croft and Williams want to make this shortfall permanent.
Thomas Hostile to Teachers and School Boards
Shared to Facebook 10/27/24
Are you sure the candidates claiming to support public education really do? We see a lot of legislators who have been hostile to public education in Topeka presenting a very different image to voters. Adam Thomas has been a Representative who is on our “bench” based on his voting record and is running against Game On Top Recruit Stacey Knoell in Senate District 23. On postcards from anti-public education dark money organizations, candidates including Thomas overstate their commitment to public school funding and omit the fact that it has been court-ordered. On his walk cards, he uses phrases that sound positive towards public education but actually signal support for vouchers. For example, he says he is “PRO-EDUCATION,” not pro-public education, and he says “money should follow each student.” That’s code for supporting vouchers, and in fact, he has voted for vouchers on multiple occasions. In this video, he shows he thinks our public schools are the enemy. He makes false statements about our schools, actively stirs up anger against them and promises to fight against them. We need legislators who will actually support public education, our teachers and the students they serve.