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House votes to relabel local support as state funding

The House has passed a bill (68-50) that amounts to relabeling some local support for public education as “state” support. The Education Conference Committee placed a mandatory 10% LOB provision in SB171. According to KASB, “It would require each district have a local option budget of at least 10 percent, and transfer an amount equal to the 10 percent into the school district general fund as ‘local effort’ to finance a base budget per pupil of $4,264, rather than the current $3,838. Although this will result in a higher base budget, it will not provide any change in...
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South Carolina is dealing with a third grade retention bill, too

Oh, look, South Carolina has a third grade retention bill this session, too. Kansans want Kansas legislation based on real evidence, not canned legislation distributed from out of state based on a story that has been debunked.  See this article: http://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/just-say-no-to-just-read-florida-south-carolina/...
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Top ten things legislators should know and do when making education policy

We like this list! Our favorites are #6, #7 and #10: #1) You don’t know education just because you went to school. Even if you were paying attention in high school, your perspective as a student was extremely narrow and is now completely obsolete. Study the issues, which are more complex and resistant to change than you think. Here’s a brief list of things that, in my experience, legislators don’t know diddly about: • A cooperative classroom and how to achieve it. • Formative assessment. • Impact of class size on daily practice (not test scores). • Difference...
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