“A report prepared for consideration Tuesday by the Kansas Legislature’s committee on K-12 education declares the current testing approach fails students, describes the method of identifying at-risk students as discriminatory and urges state government oversight of school bond proposals before they are placed on a local ballot… “Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat on the K-12 committee, said material and conclusions in the report closely resembled recommendations offered by the Kansas Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that has sought for years to reorganize public education. Dave Trabert, president of KPI, testified to the K-12...
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A&M past experiences concerning
As we await the Alvarez & Marsal report on efficiencies to be found in Kansas, including Kansas public schools, we think this article is worth another read. “‘They pretty much destroyed the district academically,’ said Ray Cummings, vice president of St. Louis branch of the American Federation of Teachers. ‘We were two points away from accreditation when they brought them in. They had no particular concern about academics. It was just about cut the budget. Cut, cut, cut.’… “Among the cuts enacted was the closing of 16 school buildings. A & M also outsourced the district’s custodial and...
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Leave a Comment “In the classroom” excuse to underfund schools
We are very disappointed that the governor and legislative leaders keep using the “in the classroom” argument, though it has been rejected by the two efficiency commissions that looked at it. It is being used to cast doubt on the need for school funding and is irresponsible. “Brownback has previously complained that districts aren’t spending 65 percent of their operating budgets in the classroom, a goal once championed by the founder of Overstock.com. “But there is no research showing a relationship between the 65 percent threshold and improved student outcomes. Even a school efficiency task force that Brownback...
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Leave a Comment Winfield Daily Courier: court can’t close its eyes to need for suitable funding
12/29/2015 The Winfield Daily Courier: Courier Views “The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld its own constitutional authority. By ruling against a law that would have diminished that authority, the court told the legislature to stay in its place. Several new conservative voices, including those of Justice Caleb Stegall and House Speaker Ray Merrick, have implied that the court, too, should stay in its place. “Without being specific, they suggest the principle of separation of powers should keep the courts from ‘interfering’ with school funding. “This might be considered consistent. “But when it comes to the Constitution’s requirement for ‘suitable’...
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