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Massive problems with charters in Florida

We have heard many times that Kansas should be following Florida’s lead on school “reform” including changes to charter school law. We vehemently disagree. Here’s the latest from Florida. “Unchecked charter-school operators are exploiting South Florida’s public school system, collecting taxpayer dollars for schools that quickly shut down. “A recent spate of charter-school closings illustrates weaknesses in state law: virtually anyone can open or run a charter school and spend public education money with near impunity, a Sun Sentinel investigation found.” Read more here: http://interactive.sun-sentinel.com/charter-schools-unsupervised/investigation.html...
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Plaintiffs not frivolous, State 0-9 in school funding cases

We posted a response to an email the governor’s office sent last week attacking critics of school funding in Kansas. Schools for Fair Funding also responded to the email, and a second email from the governor’s office followed. “In the most recent message, Melika Willoughby, Brownback’s deputy director of communications, criticizes the media and attorneys for Schools for Fair Funding, the group representing school districts suing the state for more education funding. She calls their criticism ‘flimsy” and “easily refuted.’… “She singled out John Robb, an attorney for Schools for Fair Funding who has been vocal on the...
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Economic freedom reality not as promoted

“So what happens when your costs go up? Well, then you have the freedom to cut spending wherever you want. Maybe you can quit busing kids to school, or cut staffing for your ESL students. “Isn’t freedom a wonderful thing? “What legislators are calling budget freedom is, in reality, forcing school districts to stretch the same dollars even further as costs continue to climb. “But the delusion runs even deeper. “While lambasting Kansas newspapers and educators for their ‘bombastic talk’ about inadequate funding, the governor’s deputy communications director Melika Willoughby sent out a news release identifying the improvements...
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