The Communications Director for Governor Sam Brownback sent an e-mail “Our Schools,” on Friday, August 28th. Below is a response from John Robb, Attorney, Schools for Fair Funding. Governor Sam Brownback continues to preach that the sun is shining in Kansas regardless of the facts. It appears that he would continue to say this during a hurricane. He denigrates the actions of 286 locally elected school boards who have been forced to cut classroom spending for our children. He calls their action “bombastic talk.” He claims credit for facility upgrades around the state which were due to bond...
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Governor’s office email abrasive and misleading
August 28th, Governor Brownback’s office sent out an email indicating that there is nothing wrong with Kansas school funding, that editorial boards and union leaders are engaging in “bombastic talk” and spreading a “false narrative” that our schools “are starving due to lack of funding.” He then focused on new buildings (paid for with funding that can’t be used for classroom operations and at least partially funded by local bond issues), praises teachers and mentions raises in teacher pay for a few districts and technology roll-outs in others. When discussing the block grants, the governor failed to mention...
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Leave a Comment Double standard on financial support
“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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Leave a Comment 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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