This is the map of school districts opposing changes to school board elections, yet today the elections conference committee appears ready to forward a bill to move school board elections to the fall of even years with primaries held in August (when school families are underrepresented in terms of turnout) and voters’ attention will be focused on the large federal and state elections. We predict many voters will cast ballots for school board elections they know nothing about. We also would like to point out that school board seats are not paid positions like legislative positions so requiring...
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Districts face cuts due to block grant bill
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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Leave a Comment 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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