The tax bill that actually passed the Senate last night 24-15 is nothing short of ridiculous. It is estimated to cost almost $500 million in its first year and build from there. Maybe they’re planning to use this in the next election cycle for their postcards. Maybe they want to go into conference committee with a lot of room to negotiate before they even get to something that wouldn’t bankrupt the state. Maybe they just want Governor Kelly to have to go on record with a veto of a (ridiculous) tax cut. Whatever the reason, it’s ridiculous. We’ve...
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Op-Ed Says We Should Be Celebrating Our Public Schools, Not Undercutting Them
An Op-Ed in the Kansas Reflector by Liz Meitl asks why the Legislature is advancing neovoucher schemes at this time. What would seem reasonable, then, would be for Kansas’ elected leaders to take this moment to celebrate the amazing, inspiring work of educators, and to help us support our students as we exhaustedly stumble towards the last phase of this horrible time in our country’s history. But that is not what the Kansas legislature is doing. In fact, they have chosen this moment, when school districts all across the state are trying to figure out how to bring students...
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Leave a Comment HB 2119 – Ed Savings Accts – Who Supports and Who Opposes?
This photo is from our last walk to Topeka in 2016 when Kansans sick of years of legislators who listened to Koch-funded lobbyists more than their own constituents on education and tax policy made their voices heard. Yesterday, we were reminded of those days as we testified against HB 2119, an ESA (voucher) bill that has no academic standards for the schools and vendors receiving money under the program. Take a look at the lists of proponents and opponents of the bill. We’ll be watching to see whether this bill passes out of committee. Proponents Kansas Policy Institute...
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Leave a Comment Controversial ESAs Considered by KS House K-12 Education Budget Committee
Kansas Reflector Article Discusses Hearing of HB 2119 “Opponents also expressed concerns with a lack of data about how students who use school choice programs fare in private schools. They also worried about the fiscal and academic standards private schools are held to. Under the legislation, participating schools are not required to be accredited, hire certified teachers or use a standard curriculum, said Erin Gould, of Game On for Kansas Schools.” Kansas Reflector, Noah Taborda, February 9, 2021. Originally posted to Facebook 2/9/2021....
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