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A few years ago, SMSD faced over $25 million in budget cuts. At the same time, the number of SMSD students living in poverty almost tripled between 2000 and 2010. Over 1/3 of SMSD students now qualify for free and reduced lunches, the district has over 300 homeless students, and we have almost 5 times the number of ELL students as we had in 2000. Anyone who claims these numbers don’t require extra resources doesn’t deserve to be in office and doesn’t deserve to call himself or herself pro-education....

Please read this report from the Kansas Association of School Boards.  Also note the omnipresence of the Kansas Policy Institute with its misleading school funding information. http://tallmankasb.blogspot.com/2013/02/taxes-school-finance-and-kasb-testimony.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TallmanEducationReport+%28Tallman+Education+Report%29  ...

In all the debates raging right now about separation of powers, legislative authority and efficiency, it’s important to remember what the fuss is all about. In the last several years in response to legislative budget cuts SMSD has 400 fewer teachers than in 2009, closed 6 schools since 2007, no budget for library book purchases, raised the class size cap, closed an enhanced learning center and reduced EL staff, slashed supply budgets, instituted an activities fee at the high school, increased fees for bus service and for full-day kindergarten, reduced administrative staff, reduced janitorial staffing and reduced classroom...

Given the returns, the question isn’t whether we can afford to invest in opportunities for kids but how we can possibly afford not to.  Nicholas D. Kristoff, Meet the Champs, NYT 1/20/2013...