“Kansas has twice as many vacant teaching jobs this July as normal. And fewer people are applying for those jobs. That’s according to the state’s online job service for teachers. “Educators say this is a nationwide problem made worse by state finances. “‘With the block grant passing we were very unsure how that would impact us financially,’ said Charles Wakefield, in charge of recruiting teachers to the Wichita Public Schools. ‘So we held off on hiring for several weeks.’… “If Kansans want a quality education to continue to be provided in public schools, educators say something needs to...
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Kansas Chamber and KPI oppose school funding decision
We hope Kansas parents, teachers and other community members take note of this op ed. A few years ago, many of us had never heard of the Kansas Policy Institute and assumed the Kansas Chamber of Commerce was an organization to promote the interests of Kansas businesses. Now we understand that these two organizations are Koch-funded mouthpieces which actively advocate against the interests of Kansas public schools and the children they serve. The arguments in this piece are easily refuted. See the comments below it. We also note that the claim that districts choose to operate inefficiently is...
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Leave a Comment Pay for schools
“Both the governor and Legislature are attempting to pull a fast one on the people of Kansas, and obviously do not appreciate being told they were wrong. “But they are wrong. Lawmakers repeatedly have been told the amount of money given to public schools has been inadequate and inequitable. While the Statehouse grumbled, they at least used to comply with such rulings. “That changed with Brownback’s election to office, and solidified with the moderate purge of 2012. Since that point, the court effectively has been ignored. “This session, Brownback and Co. threw out the school finance formula. In...
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Leave a Comment Silver Lake Superintendent faces budget crisis
“’It’s a mess. We’re in a perpetual budget crisis. It’s not a rosy picture long term,’ [USD 372 Superintendent Tim] Hallacy said. ‘There are no secrets. Revenues continue to decline and we’re spending into our reserves.’ “With cuts to the budget that have been made over the past several years because of state funding issues, Hallacy said all the easy decisions have been made. “’Most expenses are tied up in personnel, but those are your instructional assets,’ he said. ‘How do you squeeze costs without affecting classrooms? We’re going to have to make some tough decisions going forward.’...
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