Blog

Auburn-Washburn audit reveals efficient district, reasons for not adopting all recommendations

Some school funding critics like to claim that districts are choosing to operate inefficiently when they opt not to implement all of the savings recommended by the Legislative Post Audit Committee. This story provides an example of choices a district makes that are not frivolous and should not be equated with choosing to operate inefficiently. “The audit also recommends Auburn-Washburn expand its use of procurement cards — credit cards issued by the district to employees to cover supply and travel costs. Since the cards come with a 1 percent cash-back rate, using them for more purchases could generate...
Read more Leave a Comment

Governor’s education numbers misleading

“Gov. Sam Brownback’s sloppy — or calculated — misuse of various figures to illustrate his administration’s successes is taking a toll on his credibility… “The job numbers are a case where the figures Brownback is citing may not be wrong but could be misleading to the public. The same is true for the administration’s repeated contentions about increases in K-12 school funding when a large portion of that ‘increase’ resulted from including the cost of payments to the teachers’ retirement fund in the funding total. “It’s natural for any politician to try to pick the figures that make...
Read more Leave a Comment

KPI charity status questioned in light of lobbying

We’ve asked this question, too. “KPI’s website includes opinion essays on school funding, tax policy and more. KPI’s president, Dave Trabert, routinely testifies before the Kansas Legislature. He is also a lobbyist who has spent more than $2,800 this year buying lunches for lawmakers, state records show. “Is KPI trying to ‘substantially’ influence legislation?” We say yes. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/article29407249.html...
Read more Leave a Comment

Trailers from new documentary on education “reform”

Here’s a trailer from a documentary on education “reform”. We’re looking forward to seeing the whole film. We’re facing these issues in Kansas, and or fellow advocates are facing them in other states across the country. Click here for the link to the trailer. http://edincmovie.com Many of our legislators also attended the ALEC meeting in San Diego last week, and we’ve seen too many ALEC education bills in Kansas. Here’s a trailer from the video addressing ALEC. https://vimeo.com/131232625?outro=1...
Read more Leave a Comment