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We don’t oppose charter schools, per se, but we have seen too many examples of charter schools that claim to be more successful than public schools while hiding that they utilize some highly questionable means, which would not be allowed in public schools. Here’s a recent example. “Success Academy, the high-performing charter school network in New York City, has long been dogged by accusations that its remarkable accomplishments are due, in part, to a practice of weeding out weak or difficult students. The network has always denied it. But documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews...

“For example, House Bill 2035, introduced this year to amend state tax credits for low-income student scholarships, contained more than two dozen phrases also found in ALEC’s recommended Great Schools Tax Credit Program Act. “A school finance bill introduced in the 2014 session featured 168 words mirroring ALEC’s language in the Next Generation Charter Schools Act. House Bill 2773 included a 46-word paragraph praising charter schools lifted word-for-word from ALEC’s model bill.” Read more here: http://cjonline.com/news/2015-10-29/dozens-vested-interests-push-model-bills-kansas-politicians...

We have become painfully familiar with the Kansas Policy Institute, which is part of the State Policy Network, a national organization that promotes the ALEC agenda while pretending to be local and nonpartisan. Unfortunately, KPI is a major source of information for some legislators. KPI’s claims for being a non-partisan think tank are being questioned after an email sent “by” them was actually sent by the political consulting organization primarily known for routing moderate Republicans in the 2012 elections through the use of malicious postcards and other means. “The statement praising Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson for his...