Category: Wichita and Kansas schools
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Wichita School District Employees Comment on the Bond Issue
Here at the Voice For Liberty in Wichita, I wrote many articles about the USD 259 (Wichita school district) bond issue that district voters passed a few weeks ago. A few people took issue with what I’d written. Taking advantage of my policy that allows anonymous comments, they left some comments. It turns out that…
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Some Wichita Teachers Can’t Win Gracefully
Helen Cochran, who was the spokesperson for a group that opposed the recent Wichita school bond, received a few email and telephone messages as part of the campaign that were a little over the top. In one set of messages, a Wichita High School East English teacher (we’ll call him “Kurt”) carried on the legacy…
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Kansas School Spending May Be Cut
As reported the Kansas Liberty story Governor’s budget office recommends cuts in K-12 spending, K-12 spending in Kansas may be cut. As the Kansas budget is under extreme pressure, if the governor suggests cutting spending, the legislature is probably very happy to go along. The irony is that since several school districts in Kansas, including…
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Wichita student writing makes me wonder
A comment left to one of my videos on YouTube reads exactly like this: no we need the bond issue because hes not in school and some schools do not have things that good like rich schools and they need to vote yes and plus it would give us a good sports things and more…
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The Obama education agenda, applied to Kansas
Education writer Diane Ravitch issues a verdict in her piece The Obama Education Agenda: “Despite White House press claims to the contrary, NCLB has been a huge disappointment, and its failure is not due to lack of funding.” That’s not what we hear in Kansas. Schools constantly complain about inadequate funding, and sue the state…
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Let Parents Choose. School Choice Works.
The Alliance For School Choice has a new campaign called “School Choice Works.” The website supporting this effort is at www.letparentschoose.org. If you care about the future of education in Kansas, I urge you to sign up to join this effort. You’ll receive some useful things from them, including a free School Choice Works bumper…
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Wichita School Bond: 25% Might Come From Other Pocket
One of the ways the Wichita school bond was promoted was the 25% argument. This referred to the fact that the state of Kansas would pay 25% of the bond repayment costs. USD 259, the Wichita public school district, urged Wichitans to think of this as free money. As reported in news media, the Kansas…
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Wichita school bond won’t fix this
Wichita school employees and students are happy that the bond issue passed. As Wichitans watch new facilities being built — and as we start to pay for them — we need to remember that there are some things that this spending isn’t capable of fixing.
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Wichita School Bond Issue Passes
The Wichita school district has assured citizens that everything in this bond issue is for student achievement. I hope for the sake of Wichita’s schoolchildren that the bond accomplishes what its supporters have promised. Our community now has an additional financial burden to bear in this uncertain economic climate. In addition, the district must also…
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Charter Schools on the Rise in Kansas City, But Not in Wichita
Parents in Kansas City, Missouri are making widespread use of an educational option that’s not available in Wichita. As reported in today’s Kansas City Star (Charter schools on the rise in KC), about 23 percent of Kansas City schoolchildren attend charter schools.
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Helen Cochran on the Wichita School Bond Issue
Here’s a link to Helen Cochran speaking about the Wichita school bond issue on KAKE television. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE86dkwm5R8 Here’s Helen’s statement as to why she didn’t attend the debate: Late yesterday afternoon, after repeatedly requesting information for several weeks, I was finally informed of the forum details for a school bond issue debate sponsored by the…
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Wichita Public School District: Taxation Without Information is the Policy
Taxation without information. I wish I could take credit for inventing this phrase that I recently heard someone use. It captures very well the key characteristic of USD 259, the Wichita public school district, and its campaign for the proposed 2008 bond issue. This school district resists providing information that will help journalists and citizens…