About Us

Who we are

Game on for Kansas Schools is a nonpartisan grassroots effort by a group of parents, teachers, and concerned community members. We believe high-quality public education is a right for all Kansas students. We advocate for Kansas schools to ensure they have the resources necessary to deliver that education to all Kansas students. We inform the community about issues and legislation affecting students in Kansas.

How we got started

Over 10 years ago, several parents at Belinder Elementary School in Prairie Village, KS were concerned with the developing situation surrounding school funding. They wanted to understand what was going on and to participate in the process rather than simply reacting to decisions after they were made. They began meeting regularly with their local representatives in the Kansas House and Senate and Shawnee Mission School Board.

As the school funding situation worsened, the group became aware of a second issue–the absence of parental engagement. They rolled out a campaign at Belinder, called Game On Belinder, to encourage parents to “get in the game” and participate in issues affecting Kansas schools. Seeing that the problem affected other schools as well, they expanded the reach of the group to include parents from other schools within the Shawnee Mission School District. As the group developed a social media presence, its reach went statewide and it has continued advocating for public education and engaging communities throughout the state and working with other groups that focus on local districts.

There are currently about 15 members of the leadership team for Game On for Kansas Schools, including parents with children attending multiple different Kansas public schools along with other interested community members. We are connected to other advocates and advocacy groups in Kansas and throughout the country. We are nonpartisan and welcome anyone interested in protecting Kansas public education. We have been quoted in multiple local, state and national publications and have appeared on radio and television interviews.

What we do

Our efforts include:

• Educating parents and urging them to participate in the political process on behalf of their children.
• Evaluating policy issues including, but not limited to third grade retention, vouchers/scholarships, charters, defining “suitable” funding for education in the Kansas constitution, judicial selection and tax policy as it affects public education.
• Working to educate legislators on issues impacting public education.
• Holding legislators accountable for their votes.
• Countering the arguments of public school opponents.
• Searching for alternative sources of funding.

Check out our introductory video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cKyazH2lrM and our video of our 2014 60-mile walk to Topeka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_3EbCov8Js&feature=youtu.be.