J.R. Claeys enjoyed his trip to San Diego for the ALEC conference and even got in on the Tax and Fiscal Policy and Education committees. Were your legislators there, too? Image shared on Facebook by Kansas Families for Education....
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Brookings reminds tax cuts are bad idea for economic growth
Tax policy is inextricably linked with education funding in Kansas. Here’s more cause for concern. Read the whole article but here’s the conclusion. “The states have no good reasons to believe that tax cuts will bring the desired manna. Yet they continue to erode their tax bases in the name of business growth during an era in which few states can afford to cut critical services ranging from education to infrastructure repair. Some ideas live on and on, no matter how much evidence accumulates against them. States that follow them do so at their own peril.” Read more...
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Leave a Comment Lawrence views property tax increase to maintain funding under block grant
Be wary of people talking about increases in school funding under the block grants and help your friends understand the reality of school funding now. This article about the Lawrence school district budget is one example of how comparisons between last year and this year are problematic. “The publication includes a side-by-side comparison with last year’s budget, but Johnson said the comparison — which indicates an approximately $20 million increase in total expenditures — is skewed by the inclusion of money that wasn’t previously moved through the general operating fund, such as state aid to the Kansas Retirement...
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Leave a Comment Wichita district sees issues with block grant funding
“‘The accounting is very misleading. … You can’t just look at the bottom-line number – or in this case the top-line number,’ board member Lynn Rogers said. “’We aren’t getting more money under block grants, on anyone’s estimation, if you look at it.’ “The district projects spending nearly $647 million next fiscal year – about $4 million more than last year, said chief financial officer Jim Freeman. “But because of increased fixed costs and ‘flow-through’ expenses, such as retirement payments to teachers, what looks like a budget increase is a decrease in money to classrooms, he said.” Read...
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