We had a nice break from Action Alerts and assaults on Kansas public education that looked they wouldn’t move beyond committees, but the 2018 and 2020 elections saw the replacement of multiple pro-public education legislators with ultra cons. Wednesday, January 26th both the Senate Education Committee and the House K-12 Education Budget Committee heard another attempt to expand the Kansas Tax Credit Scholarships, which are a form of neo-vouchers. We oppose tax credit scholarships and we oppose this expansion which would eliminate the requirements that students come from the 100 lowest-performing elementary schools in the state and would...
Read more
Leave a Comment Blog
Network for Public Education Top 5 Priorities
Game On for Kansas Schools is among the grassroots organizations supporting this effort to promote effective education policy in the Biden administration. “The promises made during the campaign drew support from public education advocates across the nation. With those promises in mind, these are the top five K-12 priorities that they should keep at the forefront as they govern. 1. Rebuild our nation’s public schools, which have been battered by the pandemic, two decades of failed federal policy, and years of federal neglect. 2. Reject efforts to privatize public schools, whether those efforts be via vouchers or charter...
Read more
Leave a Comment Cash Balances Reminder: 2019 Kansas Legislative Post Audit Finding Recommended NO Changes to Kansas Schools Cash Balance Practices
BOOKMARK THIS FOR THE UPCOMING KANSAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION Anti-public education legislators and lobbyists love to criticize district cash balances, often choosing to look at the balances at particular times of the year (like right before August bills get paid) or failing to acknowledge that funds are responsibly used to build savings for future projects. The fact remains public schools are held to higher standards of transparency, accountability, checks & balances compared to non-public schools. One example is a recent Legislative Post Audit study of school district cash balances. Thanks to KASB’s Scott Rothschild for the concise summary of...
Read more
Leave a Comment PolicyWatch Report: NC Voucher Program Damaging Public Schools
Article Top Line: “New report says “Opportunity Scholarship” voucher programs undermine public education, foster division, and undermine children’s development while also costing the state millions.” We fully expect to see efforts to expand Kansas’s tax credit scholarship program and launch other voucher schemes. We continue to watch other states and oppose such efforts based on what we see over and over-expansions continue despite the damage these programs do and despite data showing they do not generally improve academic outcomes for students. “‘Financial concerns are just one negative aspect of voucher programs – even if the Opportunity Scholarship program...
Read more
Leave a Comment