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Eagle editorial urges simple solution to Gannon funding

“Rather than keep it simple in responding to the Kansas Supreme Court’s school-finance ruling, the Legislature seems intent on making matters worse for many districts. Kansans have to hope that as the favored bills go to the full House and Senate on Thursday, reason and fairness will prevail. Both have been scarce so far.”  http://www.kansas.com/2014/04/03/3382232/eagle-editorial-keep-funding-fix.html#storylink=cpy We couldn’t agree more. The bills are a jumble of moving parts right now but what has become utterly clear is that the legislature cannot conceive of just funding the equity fix, and they intend to partially fund it by cutting education funding in...
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Head of Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas: transportation cuts would hit Native American students particularly hard

“The head of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas expressed concern in a letter to Gov. Sam Brownback this week that the Legislature could cut transportation aid to school districts to help foot the bill for court-ordered equalization funding. Tribal Chairman Steve Cadue suggested cuts to state aid for busing students to school would hit rural districts — and therefore Native American students — especially hard. ‘As indicated in your own governor’s proclamations, the legacy of illegal and unscrupulous land cession treaties has left many tribes such as the Kickapoo located in rural areas on remote plots of land,’...
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Education finance bills pass committees

The Senate Ways and Means Committee and the House Appropriations Committee passed bills Tuesday night (April 1) to address the Gannon equity ruling. The most harmful amendments were defeated, though some of the votes were close and by voice vote or raise of hands which made it difficult to say who voted which way. Both bills partially fund the Gannon remedy by making further cuts to operating budgets. We don’t seek funding for funding’s sake but for the programs, staffing and supplies that funding provides, and these bills threaten that. http://www.kansas.com/2014/04/01/3379451/lawmaker-plans-to-seek-charter.html...
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