Education advocates beware of characterizations of court rulings on school funding as “activist” rather than appropriate and necessary interpretations of constitutional provisions on public education. We also note education spending is called “unnecessary” by Kobach. “Kobach characterized the issue of balancing the state budget — which he noted was dominated by spending on public schools — as being as much about the judiciary as the legislature’s allocations. ‘Activist’ judges have twisted the meaning of the constitution to force the legislature to spend an unnecessary amount on education, he said. If Republicans want to address the budget issues, they’ll...
Read more
Leave a Comment Blog
Michigan charters failing and unaccountable
We know there are political forces in Kansas that want to implement ALEC “free-market” type changes to Kansas education, including expansion of vouchers, “education spending accounts” and charters, and we continue to closely monitor states where these changes have been implemented. We see over and over again that they have failed. Here’s a new story out of Michigan. “A year ago, the Free Press published an eight-day series that documented the tragic missed opportunities of Michigan’s charter experiment. Charter schools began with the promise that privately operated public schools would provide quality options for parents in cities where...
Read more
Leave a Comment Schools face predictable plight
“That’s the problem school districts face. It’s pretty easy for legislators to predict how much the state will spend on K-12 education. All they have to do is set an arbitrary amount and say that’s all the schools are getting. It’s a lot harder for local districts to figure out how they are going to serve hundreds — or maybe thousands in some larger districts — of additional students without any additional state support. “Legislators have put the block grant funding system in place for two years, during which they say they will put together a new school...
Read more
Leave a Comment School board member Lynn Rogers to challenge O’Donnell
“Rogers speaks often about state funding for education and the need for local voters to elect education-friendly representatives. During recent budget discussions, he said a proposed mill levy increase for Wichita school district residents is the result of state lawmakers reneging on a promise to make school funding more equitable across the state. “In talking about his decision to run, Rogers highlighted his frustration with the Legislature’s passage of a bill that eliminated the state’s school finance formula and replaced it with block grants. “The bill and previous moves by Gov. Sam Brownback resulted in the Wichita school...
Read more
Leave a Comment