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“A truce in the education wars isn’t likely any time soon. Kansas is still cash-strapped, a number of lawmakers are innately hostile toward public education, and legal arguments in the long-running school funding case are scheduled for November. “But Brownback does his state no service by picking fights with school districts, as he did when he accused the Garden City School District of a big spending increase that hadn’t occurred. “In fact, the governor’s office frequently puts out incorrect and misleading information regarding schools and funding, stoking the tensions. “It would help if Brownback would acknowledge that schools...

Kansas education advocates are also going to need to be court advocates. The courts are being attacked by legislation and now face the threat of organized campaigns against retention of justices who do not rule as the governor would like them to. “The president of the Kansas Bar Association calls 2016 a ‘defining moment.’ Natalie Haag, of Topeka, serving in the top office since June, is part of a crusade to fight for the independence of the Kansas Supreme Court, which she believes will be threatened at election time. “In November 2016, five of the seven justices will...

“However, the real joke is on public schools in the state. Whether they realized it not, each of them contributed to this $12.3 million fund… “Lawmakers weren’t forthcoming that extraordinary funding was actually being deducted (or stolen, you use your own description) from state aid that districts were supposed to be getting this year. Lost funding for the Scott County school district is $21,560; in Wichita County it’s $11,965; and in the Dighton district it’s $6,859. “Conservative lawmakers were content with taking credit for their generosity until confronted with the truth by Dan Brungardt, superintendent of the Bonner...