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...
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School Finance 101…A Flashback Read as We Begin Another Kansas Legislative Session
Below is a link to a 2017 blog by Bruce Baker, Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey who has written many peer-reviewed articles on state school finance policy. “The necessity to revisit the basic connections between taxation and the provision of public goods[ii] comes about partly in response to a frequent argument of school choice (voucher and charter) advocates that the public tax dollars belong (or at least should belong) to the child, not the institutions (schools). Institutions – especially government institutions – are faceless bureaucracies, thus “bad” whereas...
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Leave a Comment SMSD Bond Information
Hey Shawnee Mission School District team members, you have an important bond vote coming up! Mail-in ballots are being sent to all registered voters in the district. It’s important for public school supporters to vote for the bond and encourage their friends and neighbors to do the same. See post for information on how this bond will help your district for only $8 per year per $100,000 of home value. Posted to Facebook 1/10/2021....
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Leave a Comment Thank You, Governor Kelly!
Thank you, Governor Kelly, for your commitment to continuing progress towards adequate public education funding. We remind the legislature that the Supreme Court has retained jurisdiction in the Gannon case and would not view cuts favorably. From Gov. Kelly:In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Kansas had enacted a plan fulfilling the state’s constitutional obligation to adequately and fairly fund public schools. The Governor fully funds this plan in the FY 2022 budget, putting Kansas on track to increase school funding by $388.1 million through FY 2023. This year, despite significant state fiscal challenges brought forth...
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