Parents, teachers, school board members and superintendents all opposed the block grant bill, but it passed anyway. “State leaders said it was cause for celebration, not cuts to schools. But the K-12 block-grant funding bill is showing its impact on districts around the state, and in ways that don’t square with the proponents’ assurances. “After last week’s closed-door bill-signing ceremony, Gov. Sam Brownback released a statement touting increased funding, and “’getting money into the classroom to immediately benefit Kansas students.’ “As the bill cleared the House, Rep. Mark Hutton, R-Wichita, argued that districts will still get more money...
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Game On opposes moving school board elections to fall
We oppose bills to move school board elections for numerous reasons, the bills are moving forward. From KASB: “An effort to move school board elections to the fall picked up steam today and KASB is urging school officials to closely monitor what could be fast-moving developments on the issue. “A House-Senate conference committee met several times Monday to go over a handful of election bills, including Senate Bill 171. “Under the Senate-approved version, SB 171 would move school board and city elections from the spring of odd-numbered years to the August primary and November general elections of odd-numbered...
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Leave a Comment KS Senate takes scholarship funds from public colleges, shifts to private
“Senate Republicans rallied around Salina Sen. Tom Arpke’s strategy to cut $5.3 million in aid from universities supervised by the Kansas Board of Regents, including Kansas State University and The University of Kansas, and award that money to independent colleges operating in the state… “[Sen. Vicki] Schmidt said the Senate position on college financial aid reflected Arpke’s dislike of public education. “’It’s just spite,’ Schmidt said. ‘The loser in this are the students.’” Read more here: http://cjonline.com/news/state/2015-03-28/senate-picks-winners-losers-among-kansas-college-students From KNEA: Senator Vicki Schmidt (R-Topeka) offered an amendment on the Senate floor to remove this provision. The amendment failed on a...
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Leave a Comment Block grant bill fails to solve problems
We don’t believe the block grant bill provides certainty and stability. The funds promised in the bill have yet to be appropriated, operating funds are fixed for 2 years though our student bodies and costs to our districts are not, and there is no indication of what a new formula will look like or whether our legislature can even manage to pass one. The bill also can’t be separated from the fact that the reason they are willing to talk about a new formula is that they can’t fund the one we have with the current revenue stream....
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