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Kansas teacher pay ranks 42nd in nation

“The NEA report indicates that average salaries for teachers in Kansas are the 42nd lowest in the country, though the rankings don’t factor in cost of living differences among the states. A year earlier, the state was ranked 41st. ‘I think that’s my concern,’ said state board member Janet Waugh, a Democrat from Kansas City. ‘I think that speaks to us not recognizing the value of a teacher.’ ‘The majority of teachers I know could make a lot more money in the private industry,’ she said. Waugh said she believes school boards are raising teacher pay to the extent...
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House GOP leaders say they didn’t intend to include charter provisions

“Republican leaders in the Kansas House on Friday said they didn’t intend to include an expansion of charter schools as part of a school funding bill intended to address the Supreme Court’s ruling on school finance. And while they said they intend to introduce a new bill without the charter school provision, education groups said they still have major concerns about other provisions of the bill, such as merit-based pay for teachers, changes in teacher licensing requirements and offering corporate tax breaks for funding private school scholarships.”http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/mar/21/charter-school-provision-mistake-gop-leaders-admit/ We haven’t seen the new bill, but it sounds like there will...
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Game On for Kansas Schools issues press release for walk to Topeka

PRESS RELEASE                                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Game On Hopes Walk is a Game Changer for State Legislature Local Mom Makes Second Walk from Merriam to Topeka, Others Join Merriam, Kan. –  Last year the group Game On for Kansas Schools made headlines when member and local mom, Heather Ousley, made the 60 plus mile trek from her house in Merriam to the capitol building in Topeka.  With the motto of “Just one walk,” the group aimed to air their frustrations with state legislators over the budgetary cuts to public schools in the state and the emergence of...
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Heather’s walking to Topeka March 28-31

Heather’s walking to Topeka March 28-31! Many of you first met us last March when Game On member Heather Ousley walked the 60 miles from Kansas City to Topeka to voice opposition to the policies and priorities of many in our legislature. This session we have seen continued underfunding of our schools. We have a court decision to fix unconstitutional inequities in our school funding which has been met by reluctance and a poisonous bill bundling funding with toxic education policy. Many legislators have shown us their relief over the Gannon remand of the adequacy issues, which they...
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