Our legislators make choices when using numbers about school finance. They can focus on all funding from all sources or focus on operational funding. They can explain the funds include capital projects approved by voters in their communities or not. They can label broad categories of staff who aren’t teachers as “administration” or not. They can mention increasing costs in terms of higher numbers of students in need, or higher technology costs, or inflation or not. How does your legislator talk about funding and why? Sen. Melcher is not the only one in Johnson County talking about school...
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Join us in Eudora as we walk to Topeka
Join us in Eudora on Saturday, March 28 as we walk to Topeka to advocate for Kansas public schools....
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Leave a Comment Education needs stronger champions
We agree with this editorial. We’re doing what we can, but we have also noticed a reluctance on the part of some of our university leaders and our most prominent superintendents to effectively advocate for our students. While they must be respectful and maintain relationships with our legislators, we believe they have an obligation to clearly explain what our students need to legislators and communicate with their communities regarding whether their concerns are being addressed. We are tired of hearing statements indicating this is the best we can expect under the current circumstances while opportunities for our children...
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Leave a Comment Lawrence increases would go to KPERS, not classrooms
“Total state aid for Lawrence would go up in the 2015-2016 school year to about $70.3 million, but nearly all of the increase would be for increased contributions to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, and increased funding for the district’s virtual school. “For the 2016-2017 school year, Lawrence would get another $1.2 million increase, nearly all of which would be for increased KPERS contributions. “Furthermore, because the new formula would no longer be based on per-pupil funding, there would be no automatic increase in funding if the district’s enrollment grows over the next two years. The only...
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