From the Twitterverse, Superintendent Darrel Stufflebeam (@dstuffelbeam) explaining “classroom” spending: “Things that do not count as ‘classroom spending’ (this will take more than one tweet): teacher training, food service, bus drivers,… “More things that do not count as “classroom spending”: natural gas, librarians, nurses, counselors, speech therapists, principals, … “Third tweet of things that don’t count as “classrooms spending”: superintendents, custodians, fuel, insurance, secretaries, electricity,… “Fourth and final tweet of things that don’t count as “classroom spending”: phone service, copier service, water. “Should add that constructing classrooms does not count as ‘classroom spending’. That’s right, classrooms are not...
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Valley Center Super Gibson explains how district spends money
“Over the last several months, you may have heard elected state officials share that schools need to get more money into the classroom. Personally, I couldn’t agree more. The challenge, however, is that since 2009, schools in Kansas have experienced a decrease in state funding for the very budgets that can be used to support the classroom. When you review where we spend our dollars, you will find that it to be fairly consistent with how other districts spend operational dollars. It is important to note that Valley Center spends less per student than most every district in...
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Leave a Comment Record levels of debt covering income tax revenue impact
The current administration is hiding the disastrous results of its tax policy by issuing record levels of debt (which will need to be paid). This does not bode well for the short-term or long-term future of school funding in Kansas. Do your friends understand this? “Six lines buried deep in a 700-page appropriation bill last spring gave the Kansas Department of Transportation unlimited authority to issue debt, and in early December, without public disclosure, the agency used that authority to issue $400 million in highway bonds. “State law requires those debt proceeds to be used for improving state...
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Leave a Comment “Lost Decade” not accurate basis for tax changes
We focus on education policy, but right now it is inextricably linked with tax policy. We’ve heard reference recently to the “lost decade” argument and found this explanation helpful. “Clearly, the actual record of Kansas’ economy between 2000 and 2010 shows the inaccuracy of calling it a “lost decade.” Two periods of nationwide recession over a relatively short time – the first of which particularly hurt Wichita and the second of which was the worst economic downturn in decades – could only skew job growth downward. And, still, some places in Kansas actually gained jobs during those tough...
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