Blog

This is food for thought as we look ahead to the 2015 legislative session. We have heard talk of eliminating teacher collective bargaining and tying teacher compensation to standardized test scores on top of last year’s removal of due process protections for teachers. We’re also hearing of increasing numbers of districts facing teacher shortages. “But the belief that [getting rid of ‘bad apples’] will transform education is a fantasy, a fairy tale that conceals the true nature of the problem. In reality, fixing education will take much more than a change of personnel…[T]he key to improving teaching is...

Please share this post. Far too many Kansans hear the claims that overall funding is up and conclude that all is well with Kansas school funding. The fact remains that Base State Aid Per Pupil (BSAPP) was cut during the recession, while legislators promised it would be restored when the recession eased. Instead, we got a risky tax cut and classroom funding that is not keeping up with needs. “Lawmakers do have discretion over general state aid, and they have chosen to let it decline. The result: classroom sizes are growing and Kansas districts are less able to...

Be wary of those who promote changing Kansas law to promote more charter schools with no accountability. Other states keep showing that charters do not outperform public schools, especially when you control for their different student populations. “Please spread this information across the state! Charter schools perform well at significantly lower percentages than the traditional public schools. Even with inequitable and inadequate funding, even without doing selective admissions (like charters), even with constant bashing, Texas public schools did themselves proud in the 2014 accountability rankings. “Charters perform significantly lower than traditional public schools! Again!” Texas 2014 Accountability: State...