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House reworks financial literacy bill and mandates teaching of handshakes

This financial literacy bill was worked in the House Ed committee where problems relating to how students would fit such a course into their schedules, unfunded mandates and other issues led to a compromise to encourage teaching financial literacy. Today some legislators tried to abandon the compromise, and now we have a bill mandating the teaching of a good handshake. We would really prefer the legislature focus on its job and let the state BOE and districts do theirs. Can we get a solution on school funding, please? http://johncelock.com/lawmakers-want-students-learn-handshaking-avoid-glide-path-jail...
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Legislature still working against judicial branch

“But as the package moves through the House of Representatives, Kansans should ask themselves at least two questions: First, is this package true to the will of the people when they voted to change their constitution and place all administrative authority under the Supreme Court and to eventually unify all Kansas courts? Second, if Kansans start down the road where judges feel compelled to help bargain away the Court’s authority, where does that road end? Will otherwise fair and impartial judges be asked to decide court cases the way some legislators want them to be decided — in...
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Budget cuts and increasing expenses are real in Hays USD 489

“We would offer that had the Kansas Legislature and governor been interested in honoring the funding levels they established and wrote into law, USD 489 would not be experiencing a fiscal crisis. Responding to a Supreme Court finding they weren’t adequately supporting K-12 public education in 2006, lawmakers had promised to increase gradually the base state aid per pupil to $4,492. They never got there. Aid peaked at $4,400 in 2009 and has dropped to $3,838. If the Hays district was paid $4,492 in BSAPP this school year, there would have been an additional $2.9 million to run operations....
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