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Game On submits testimony opposing SB 171

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee hearing on SB 171 was heard February 11. Here’s the content of our testimony. We are submitting this written testimony in opposition to SB 171 as parents of public school students. Game on for Kansas Schools is a nonpartisan grassroots effort among Kansans who share a belief in high-quality public education as a right of all Kansas students. We advocate for Kansas public schools to ensure our teachers, principals, superintendents, and school board members all have the resources necessary to deliver quality education to all Kansas students. We inform the community about...
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House Education Committee passes bill proposed by minority report

In the House Education Committee on February 10, Reps. Grosserode, Bruchman, Lunn, Rhoades, Macheers, Bradford, Barker, Barton, Dove, and Highland voted to pass a bill on teacher negotiations limiting negotiations to compensation and working hours despite the fact that the superintendents association, the school boards association and the teachers unions all came up with a compromise bill that would allow each side up to 5 other negotiable items, and despite the fact that the efficiency commission that met over several months voted against drafting the bill limiting negotiations to compensation and hours and opted instead to let the...
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USD 336 superintendent explains funding cuts

Here’s an excellent explanation of current funding from Dennis R. Stones, Superintendent USD 336. Holton Public Schools USD 336 From USD 336 School Superintendent Dennis Stones: Dear Colleagues and Community Members: Several people have approached me with questions about the Governor’s recent funding cuts. The Governor wants us to believe the cuts are due to school funding being “out of control” and that these cuts are simply a reduction of last year’s increase. That might be true for the state, but this is mostly false for school districts. I will attempt to explain this issue. School finance is...
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Hutch News on elusive magic education funding formula

Here’s a great column from the Hutch News. “I suppose it is politically useful to pretend there is a magic formula out there which will provide a better system of education at a reduced price. It is the same approach as pretending one can lower taxes and collect more revenue, that one can remove large sums of money from the highway budget and not affect road quality, that the number of prison guards can be reduced and not affect safety or performance, or that we can fix KPERS on the cheap by borrowing a lot of money. “The...
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