Another superintendent explains why a “decrease in an increase” rings hollow and urges his community to speak up. Thank you, Eric Reid. “We all pay a price for the choices we make and the decisions of others. Now the choices I am forced to make create negative opportunity costs for my students, staff, and community. Call it local control all you want; I feel no control over this. All we have is our voice, and there is no big money behind us to get elected officials to listen. There is an opportunity cost for our silence, and not...
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Understanding reserve funds
This article explains how district reserves are being overestimated by the administration. “The administration of Gov. Sam Brownback circulated a document last week among lawmakers and supporters that showed that school districts across the state had about $381 million in “flexible” funds as of July 1. “The Division of Budget arrived at $381 million by adding up the districts’ contingency funds and several other dedicated funds that are designated for specific purposes, such as virtual and bilingual education or summer school, but can be used for other purposes if necessary. “The agency, which is headed by Shawn Sullivan,...
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Leave a Comment Who to trust on Kansas education
“Educators also serve a special interest group–Kansas kids. I ask you to remember that the lobbyist I’m referring to in this editorial [KPI’s Dave Trabert] is paid to advance the same ideology that has our state on the brink of fiscal ruin but who won’t disclose by whom he is paid (even when pressed to do so by elected representatives). If his plan weakens working conditions, learning conditions, and public schools–as similar laws have in other states–he and his employers are accountable to no one while you and I are left with consequences that impact your child. “Over...
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Leave a Comment Funding changes sought
These are not tweaks, and yes, this would set up schools and the children they serve for failure. These are bad ideas which cannot be separated from their end game: cut funding for schools until it’s low enough to fit the low revenue stream of the great Kansas experiment instead of being based on what Kansas children need. “Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has also proposed repealing Kansas’ school funding formula and replacing it with block grants to each school district. This came after a panel of three district judges ruled December that the state needs to spend at...
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