Lawrence Superintendent Rick Doll explains funding concerns with the block grant in a letter to patrons and staff. “A flat funding system combined with enrollment growth and rising operational costs prompt grave concerns about the district’s ability to maintain high quality educational programs and services. Previous budget cutting measures in the district included closing schools, increasing class sizes, adding participation fees, reducing student support services, decreasing teacher training opportunities and eliminating student transportation options…The board invites parent and community input during this budget planning process. We also encourage you to join the board, administration teachers and staff in...
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New way to stay informed
Here’s a way to stay informed of what’s going on in Topeka right now. YOUR SCHOOL, YOUR COMMUNITY, YOUR VOICE Stay in touch with the issues AS THEY HAPPEN and TAKE ACTION. Register for our public schools advocacy network today. No ads, no cost, just information. Parents, teachers, administrators, community members are invited to “Join Us.” to fight for our students and the tradition of strong Kansas public schools. We are teachers, fighting for Kansas students and our public schools. Join Us. Click here: http://www.joinusks.org...
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Leave a Comment Lawrence district looking at budget cuts
“At Monday’s board meeting, Doll said he wanted to make it clear the district is also considering cuts, not just additional property taxes. He said the district’s finance advisory committee was in the process of identifying and recommending ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts’ to the district’s budget. “A new block grant system of funding, signed into law in March by Gov. Sam Brownback, has been estimated to result in a $1.6 million hit to the Lawrence district. That figure is not final, though, with the Legislature still working on the state budget.” Read more here: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/apr/27/doll-response-state-budget-cuts-will-also-include-/ ...
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Leave a Comment Forum on block grants postponed after KPI complains
We are painfully familiar with the Kansas Policy Institute, their deceptive use of data, their coziness with many legislators who receive their data unquestioningly, and their insistence that they be treated as education funding and policy experts though their main staffers have no education experience and are paid by a Koch-backed organization to lobby for a low-tax, free-market ideology. We hope WSU really didn’t postpone the forum on the block grant just because KPI complained. The comments following this article are worth a read for those of you unfamiliar with them. Read them here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article19838694.html We note that the...
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