Well said. Untold charter story The Eagle featured a rather disturbing commentary touting charter schools (“State’s educational system lacks choice,” Feb. 19 Opinion) by Robert Litan, a former Brookings Institution economist who recently resigned his affiliation with the think tank after a violation of a policy rule. Litan mentioned paying more to highly effective teachers, the need for school choice and catering to low-income students with low-attainment records. He also stated that there are “award-winning nonprofit charter groups – such as KIPP, Success Academy and Uncommon Schools, to name a few – that give largely minority students from...
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Beware anti-public school agenda in NJ and KS
This New Jersey editorial is very well done. Just substitute Kansas for New Jersey, Kansas Policy Institute for Pacific Research Institute, and Koch brothers for Walton Family Foundation, and it is applicable here. “The school-choice debate is delicate and complex. The core idea of providing students with options to escape an urban jungle is laudable. Charter schools have their place in settings where the need is greatest. But many school-choice advocates have other goals — public funding for religious schools, for example, or a broad privatization of our education system that would, among other things, break teacher unions…...
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Leave a Comment February revenue short $53 million
Well, this doesn’t bode well for school funding. “Gov. Sam Brownback announced a $17 million cut to the state’s universities Tuesday after tax receipts fell short of expectations in February. “Kansas missed tax revenue estimates by about $53 million last month, putting the state back in a budget hole for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.” Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article63340222.html#storylink=cpy...
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Leave a Comment Poll reveals attitudes about schools and courts
“The poll showed 77 percent of those responding want funding for public education in Kansas to increase. Only 7 percent would seek a reduction in appropriations to education. “’It doesn’t surprise me,’ said Mark Desetti, a lobbyist with the Kansas-National Education Association. ‘There’s a lot of parents out there who think it’s all in jeopardy. I think they are seeing through the rhetoric, because they’re seeing the reality.’ “Meanwhile, 52 percent rejected consolidation of Kansas public school districts. One-fourth were neutral on the topic and 24 percent either somewhat or strongly supported consolidation.” Read more here: http://cjonline.com/news/state/2016-02-29/kansas-poll-shows-deep-disapproval-us-congress-brownback...
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