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Why We Are Concerned About Charter Schools

We see stories of charter school academic failure and financial fraud almost every day. We don’t share all of them, but they continue to inform our position that Kansas charter law is appropriate and that charter schools have largely failed their original mission and require oversight and accountability. https://www.10news.com/…/50-million-in-state-funds-reported… Originally posted to Facebook on 06/03/2019....
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Gannon VII Decision Issued!

We are pleased to report the Kansas Supreme Court has issued its Gannon VII decision this morning and has held the latest state funding plan is constitutional. The Court will retain jurisdiction to ensure that we don’t have to go through another 10 years to try to enforce this decision as when the legislature reneged on the promises of Montoy, starting during the recession but then continuing for years after. From the decision: “With that imprecision in mind, we hold the version of KSEEA in place with the adoption of S.B. 16 substantially complies with our orders expressed...
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Bad education policy bill advances

Update at 11:40 pm Monday, March 25th: Despite the fact that 0 districts and 0 education advocates voiced support of the bad education policy bill (House Substitute for SB 16), it has gained favorable approval 63-60. Final vote tomorrow. This is a narrow margin, so if you haven’t contacted your legislator yet, do so tonight or tomorrow morning. They’ll also probably take up the funding bill (which we also oppose) when they resume at 11 am tomorrow....
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Oppose bullying voucher bill

The House K-12 Education Budget could be working on the actual education budget. (The attorney general has suggested enactment of legislation by March 15.) Instead today they had a hearing on a bill to create a voucher for students who report bullying. While we agree bullying is a serious problem, we note this bill was an ALEC model bill and is promoted by school choice organizations, not anti-bullying organizations. We submitted written testimony. We particularly object to this bill being a voucher bill and allowing public funds to go to private schools. We note no finding of bullying...
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