Blog

The bill to prohibit Common Core Standards was defeated 7-11 with one (Grosserode) abstaining. In Kansas this was a sign reason can prevail. Now we’ll help to make sure it’s implemented properly, and the pitfalls are avoided. HB 2289, the bill that would prohibit Common Core Standards, was defeated this morning in the House Education Committee Meeting. The vote was 7 for it, 11 against it, and 1 abstaining. Common Core Standards was one thing our moderate, (true) pro-education leaders were able to save this session. Thank you Reps Lusk, Rooker, Winn, and the 8 others who voted...

VERY good news from Topeka! The charter bill was defeated in the Senate Education Committee. Since it was already defeated in the House, the bill is dead!    Voting FOR (need to hear from constituents): MELCHER, Arpke, Pyle, Abrams, Tyson. Voting against (thank): PETTEY, WOLF, Hensley, Ostmeyer, Schmidt, Kerschen....

Q: What do you call a $10 million corporate tax break with no accountability? A: Sub for Senate Bill 22. Yes, after days of debate, the House Education Committee took the contents of House Bill 2400, tweaked it, and stuffed it into a Senate Bill they gutted. There was so…me hope that HB 2400 would go down to defeat along with the special education voucher bill and the massive expansion of charter schools, each of which was defeated on a vote of 9 to 10. For some time it appeared this voucher via tuition tax credits bill would...

Please read this letter written by one of our friends in Indiana. If you skip the part about high-stakes testing (so far) and the specifics on Glenda Ritz, this could be Kansas. Note the similarities, and connect the dots. The current legislative push and funding strain are not parts of an organic Kansas movement. This is ALEC and other aligned outside forces. Kansans, tell your legislators “enough is enough”!   Here is the text of our good friend Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer’s speech at Tuesday’s rally at the State House. She justly received a standing ovation. “My name is Cathy...