“‘Following the 2015 repeal of the school finance formula that was replaced with block grants, the expectation should be that the Education Budget committees will be hard at work crafting a new formula,’ says Rep. Barbara Bollier. ‘As a member of that committee, I have been told this is not the case and our committee will not be involved. My suspicion is that solving the school funding puzzle will be delayed until next session because it is an election year and votes on such a bill might expose where many legislators truly stand on the issue, specifically not...
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K-12 draft report recommends significant changes
“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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Leave a Comment 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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