Blog

The Senate Ways and Means Committee has introduced a bill to reduce supplemental general state aid for education effective THIS YEAR. This bill would take away funds already budgeted for current year operations. Any discussion about districts’ cash balances needs to acknowledge that our legislature is willing to do things like this, and our school boards and superintendents know it. Committee members are: Chair Ty Masterson, Vice Chair Jim Denning Ranking Minority Member Laura Kelly, Tom Arpke, Steve Fitzgerald, Marci Francisco, Dan Kerschen, Jeff Melcher, Michael O’Donnell, Larry Powell, Caryn Tyson. Here is a link to a document...

Kansas schools are worth investing in and protecting. • Kansas ranks 10th in the nation on mastery of basic skills before high school as reported by NAEP. • Kansas ranks 5th in the nation on high school completion rates as reported by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Council on Education Statistics (NCES). • Kansas ranks 5th in the percent of students tested meeting all four benchmarks out of all states where a majority of students take the ACT. • Kansas ranks 15th in average educational attainment of adults 25 and older as reported by NCES....

Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley, Olathe, Gardner-Edgerton, DeSoto and Lawrence have passed LOB issues. Here are comments from SMSD. Shawnee Mission School District Voters Pass LOB and Bond Election Proposals In the district’s first mail-in ballot election, Shawnee Mission voters have endorsed both the local option budget and bond proposal questions. Unofficial results indicate voters overwhelmingly approved maintaining the local option budget at the current level by approximately 83 percent in favor and 17 percent in opposition. Voters also approved a $223 million bond for districtwide capital improvements with approximately 80.5 percent voting in favor of the bond and...