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KASB Report on School Funding

“Kansas ranked 30th among the 50 states in total funding per K-12 student in 2017, providing more than $1,500 less than the national average, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. “That gap steadily widened since 2009, when it was $311. Adjusted for inflation, Kansas per pupil funding remains below 2008. The reduction in real (inflation-adjusted) funding and the impact on student achievement is a key factor in the Gannon school finance case. In 2017, the Kansas Legislature began adding funding in response to that case. That additional funding, beginning in 2018, is not included...
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Update on Charter Schools

“Meanwhile, as the big promises about charters have remained unfulfilled, real costs have been accruing. According to school finance expert Bruce Baker, the expansion of charters has weakened traditional public schools and created inefficiencies like duplicative administrative costs. Increased competition has led to many schools, charter and otherwise, closing down — an outcome that Robert Slavin of Johns Hopkins University has called ‘very damaging to kids.’ And in places like New Orleans, where traditional public schools have been almost entirely replaced by charters, residents have expressed frustration with unelected and unrepresentative governing boards that routinely violate state transparency...
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Self-government Can’t Function in Secret

Legislative leadership acted more like despots than representatives of the people of Kansas in multiple ways this session. They stacked committees to manipulate the legislative process, they stifled dissent and threatened legislators who sought to vote their consciences and their constituencies, they stifled dissent, and on the final day of the session violated the First Amendment. Yet Wagle, Denning and Ryckman have been re-elected multiple times. Wake up, Kansas. People in their districts need to understand the damage they’re inflicting on the rest of the state, and people outside their districts need to understand how important leadership elections are....
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