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Early childhood and alternative programs shutting down in western KS

“The district’s 4-year-old, at-risk program, which used to prepare children for kindergarten with basic English and math skills, has been shuttered for the 2015-16 school year because the district could not find anyone to teach it. “Earlier this year, USD 452 also shut down its alternative education program because of the way state funding is calculated under the new block grant funding formula… “USD 452’s learning center was one of four run with help from the SPRSC that closed in March, when the Kansas Legislature scrapped the state’s school finance formula and replaced it with block grants, according...
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Proposed school board rule would be harmful for rural districts

“The underlying idea behind this legislation is that somehow these school board members are not making decisions that are best for students but instead for their relatives who work for local school districts. Applying that same logic to the Legislature would render it empty, because everyone is most likely related to someone in the state who works in an industry affected by lawmakers’ decisions. “Though the bill was tabled last session, it’s likely to come up again next session. Too many lawmakers listen to lobbyists who want to route public education money to private education, and they are...
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Education, Inc. viewing in Wichita November 12th

We’ve seen this film and highly recommend it. It’s especially timely now to watch what happened to Douglas County, Colorado schools, and how the attack started with a school board takeover. Thursday, November 12 at 6:00pm College Hill United Methodist Church 2930 E 1st St N, Wichita, Kansas 67214 Privatizing schools isn’t the answer. All children deserve a good education; get informed and help save our public schools. Vote for candidates who support free and open public education, regardless of their political affiliation. This hour-long movie you will begin to find out how for-profit corporations are forming charter...
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School board witch hunt

Exactly! “In an anti-educator witch hunt, a legislative committee is trying to identify school board members whose spouses or relatives work for school districts anywhere in the state or who do business with a district or the state – as if a bill to keep such people off local boards hadn’t been justifiably criticized and killed early this year. Local boards already use recusal to deal with potential conflicts of interest. Such sweeping new restrictions on board membership would be a big problem, especially in rural districts. This is more Statehouse meddling in local matters. It’s also hypocritical,...
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