Let us be blunt. This governor and our legislative leadership have no intention of complying with any court order to increase school funding. The proposal to change the formula is a ploy to avoid the court’s decision. It will take time to figure out how funding is being reduced and re-litigate it. In the meantime, we will see efforts to change judicial selection and lower the retirement age of judges (a bill has already been introduced) so that the courts can be stacked with those passing a litmus test on school funding. As the years go by, those...
Read more
Leave a Comment Blog
KASB on the State of the State
We’ll have more to say on this but here’s information from KASB. We agree “’A majority of the projected shortfall we face is due to increases in K-12 spending since fiscal year 2014,’ Brownback said in his State of the State address… “Brownback’s statement was a far cry from his campaign rhetoric when he often bragged about the quality of Kansas public schools and defended his funding record of K-12 education. “And it is a far cry from what budget experts say is the cause of the current budget crisis, which they attribute to income tax cuts enacted...
Read more
Leave a Comment Courts are not meant to be democratic
Last night in the State of the State Gov. Brownback said we should change how judges are selected and make our courts more democratic. We vehemently disagree. Our courts are not designed to be democratic. We have 3 branches of government, two of which are democratic, with the remaining branch (the courts) with the role of upholding legal and constitutional standards regardless of political pressures. This article provides a helpful explanation. But this argument misapprehends the nature of constitutional democracy. As conceived since the nation’s founding, constitutions are understood to provide the legal framework for democratic government, distribute...
Read more
Leave a Comment Goossen: Spending not culprit for budget woes
“Look back 30 years. What did it cost to purchase a car? Eggs? Electricity? Blue jeans? A house? Certainly less than today. Most of us know instinctively that prices will likely be quite a bit higher 30 years in the future. Although Americans are currently enjoying a reprieve in the cost of a gallon of gas, we would be fooling ourselves to believe the price will never again rise above two dollars. “State government services and programs are no different. Over time, state spending goes up. That’s normal. Inflation pushes routine expenses higher. Populations grow, requiring more services....
Read more
Leave a Comment