“Brownback’s camp didn’t force those businesses to outline how their tax savings would create jobs (the governor’s economic pipe dream.) School districts, meanwhile, had to grovel for aid from a fund created with dollars stripped from their K-12 state funding. “Sadly, it’s all part of the plot to undermine public schools and encourage privatized education, per the wishes of the Koch brothers-supported Kansas Chamber, Kansas Policy Institute and other so-called ‘free market’ advocates. “The self-serving quest is hurting good public schools and the people they serve. Voters should keep it in mind when state lawmakers beholden to anti-public...
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Implementation of block grants doesn’t inspire confidence
“In the end, the Finance Council decided to allocate only about half of the $12.3 million it had available. Some members of the panel said they liked the new system because it gave them more flexibility to address unique needs in individual districts. Another way to look at it would be that the system gives a small group of state officials, who may or may not have any educational expertise, the authority to arbitrarily micromanage school funding based on few, if any, set criteria. “Legislators said they didn’t like the state’s existing school funding formula, which was based...
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Leave a Comment Finance council slashes requests for aid
“Steve Karlin, superintendent of Garden City USD 457, which sought more than $1 million in emergency aid and received less than $60,000, disputed the panel’s suggestion that his district’s needs don’t warrant extra help from the state. “’I’m disappointed with the result,’ Karlin said. ‘I think given what happened with schools over the last several years, any further reduction in revenue creates an extraordinary need.’ “Karlin was referring to past cuts to certain types of school aid, in particular funding for everyday operational expenses.”… “Tim Hallacy, superintendent of Silver Lake USD 372 in Shawnee County, said the fact...
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Leave a Comment Extraordinary needs fund is “failed promise”
“Cory Gibson, the superintendent for Valley Center, said in an e-mail that school districts ‘were assured that the extraordinary fund would be there as a ‘safety net’ for growth, but this appears once again to be a failed promise by some lawmakers.’… “Brownback’s budget director, Shawn Sullivan, had proposed setting a 1 percent enrollment increase as the threshold. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, made a motion to approve this proposal, but it was voted down by every Republican on the committee, including Brownback… “The old school finance formula would have automatically adjusted for increases in enrollment. The...
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