HB 2068 and SB 61, the identical House and Senate versions of the tax credit scholarship expansion have passed out of the House K-12 Education Budget and Senate Education Committees. We oppose these bills because they move further from the original premise of the tax credit scholarship scheme by expanding student eligibility from those who qualify for free lunch (the Kansas proxy for at-risk) to those who also qualify for reduced-price lunch, and eliminates the requirement that students come from one of the 100 lowest-performing elementary schools. The expansion does not increase accountability of schools receiving the scholarships...
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KASB’s Facebook Post on HB 2068, Tax Credit Scholarship Expansion
The COVID pandemic is unprecedented and temporary, but bills being pushed by anti-public education legislators would do long-term harm to our public schools and the children they serve. Our friends at KASB posted some good information about voucher programs and their reasons for opposing HB 2068. Make sure your legislators know where you stand. From KASB’s Facebook Post on January 25th: The Kansas Legislature will debate HB2068 which expands school voucher requirements in Kansas. We oppose HB2068 and here’s why. Vouchers Undermine the State’s Commitment to Public Education. Kansas public schools are a unifying factor in our state....
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Leave a Comment Testimony Opposing HB 2068 and SB 61 – Tax Credit Scholarship Expansion
We had a nice break from Action Alerts and assaults on Kansas public education that looked they wouldn’t move beyond committees, but the 2018 and 2020 elections saw the replacement of multiple pro-public education legislators with ultra cons. Wednesday, January 26th both the Senate Education Committee and the House K-12 Education Budget Committee heard another attempt to expand the Kansas Tax Credit Scholarships, which are a form of neo-vouchers. We oppose tax credit scholarships and we oppose this expansion which would eliminate the requirements that students come from the 100 lowest-performing elementary schools in the state and would...
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Leave a Comment Network for Public Education Top 5 Priorities
Game On for Kansas Schools is among the grassroots organizations supporting this effort to promote effective education policy in the Biden administration. “The promises made during the campaign drew support from public education advocates across the nation. With those promises in mind, these are the top five K-12 priorities that they should keep at the forefront as they govern. 1. Rebuild our nation’s public schools, which have been battered by the pandemic, two decades of failed federal policy, and years of federal neglect. 2. Reject efforts to privatize public schools, whether those efforts be via vouchers or charter...
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