Blog

We agree with this letter to the editor

As a member of the Kansas House Education Committee and a longtime member of United School Administrators of Kansas, I must take exception with Gov. Sam Brownback’s commentary (“Kansas schools not being shortchanged,” Oct. 27 Opinion). Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/10/30/3085808/letters-to-the-editor-on-k-12.html#storylink=cpy  ...
Read more Leave a Comment

Manipulating data to mislead the public

Recently, the blog wichitaliberty.org featured a series of graphs intended to rebuke Kansas “liberals'” dissatisfaction with school funding under Brownback. The graphs featured in this post from Wichita Liberty seem to show a sharp increase in the number of teachers with a slower rate of growth in certified employees. What isn’t immediately clear though is the way the graph manipulates the data in question. While the numbers are true, the way the graphs are set up may create a misconception about the data. At first glance the graph appears out of step with what many Kansans are experiencing....
Read more Leave a Comment

Tallman Report on setting the record straight on school employees and spending

From Mark Tallman at KASB: “I’ve been asked to comment on an ad that Americans for Prosperity has been running in recent months touching on several topics: the total amount of spending per pupil in Kansas (over $12,000 for the past five years), the share of that money going to teacher salaries, and claims over the past decade, for every two teachers, five ‘non-teaching’ positions have been added. A similar issue was raised by a state representative at the joint meeting between the State Board of Education and members of the House and Senate Education Committees, who said...
Read more Leave a Comment