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Voice opposition to corporate tax credit “scholarships”

Please read this article. Game On was among several testifying against the bill to create a corporate tax credit scholarship bill in Kansas. Please contact House Education Committee members. They need to hear from public school student supporters: kasha.kelley@house.ks.gov, ward.cassidy@house.ks.gov, ed.trimmer@house.ks.gov, sue.boldra@house.ks.gov, john.bradford@house.ks.gov, carolyn.bridges@house.ks.gov, diana.dierks@house.ks.gov, willie.dove@house.ks.gov, john.ewy@house.ks.gov, shanti.gandhi@house.ks.gov, amanda.grosserode@house.ks.gov, dennis.hedke@house.ks.gov, ron.highland@house.ks.gov, roderick.houston@house.ks.gov, jerry.lunn@house.ks.gov, nancy.lusk@house.ks.gov, kelly.meigs@house.ks.gov, melissa.rooker@house.ks.gov, valdenia.winn@house.ks.gov.http://cjonline.com/news/2014-02-21/lawmakers-eye-tax-credits-private-school-tuition...
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“Average” voters need to make their voices heard on bills to move local (and school board) elections to the fall

In case you’re thinking that school boards and municipalities don’t need involvement from parents, teachers and other community members on the bills to move local elections, see this email from Sen. Smith who is on the committee but is objecting to hearing from Kansans outside his district and is noting he’s mostly heard opposition from elected officials and not “average voters”: “Thank you for your email. I appreciate you sharing your concerns and opinion with me. I have received several emails, most from people not in my district, asking that this bill be stopped. I have also received several...
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Action Alert on SB 211

Action Alert: We know, we’re posting AGAIN, and we’re sorry about that, but as we’ve been paying attention to charters, vouchers, etc., and while broadband, gay discrimination and spanking bills have been in the news, another set of bills has been quietly making their way through the legislature. This post addresses Senate Bill 211 (major changes in school board and other municipal elections). PLEASE CONTACT COMMITTEE MEMBERS LISTED BELOW. This week, the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee began working SB 211, which would move local spring elections to coincide with November general elections in even-numbered years. The committee...
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Rep. Melcher hosts Carpe Diem CEO but we don’t see that as a model for Kansas

Rep. Melcher scheduled a 2 hour promotional session with the joint education committees yesterday for a charter school based out of Arizona. Did you know that the Carpe Diem charter district and school administrative costs are DOUBLE that of Kansas public schools – 9% charter v 4% to 5% Kansas public schools? 33% of their staff are administrators/CEOs (see Carpe Diem’s own report). Did you know that Rep. Melcher’s own school districts already implement this innovative blended learning model? (http://www.kansascity.com/2014/02/12/4819785/the-flip-side-of-learning-new.html) Did you know that the charter school has no empirically valid data on student outcomes? CEO/Founder Rick Ogston compares...
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