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Wichita School Bond: Is Opposing It Punishing Kids?
Read more: Wichita School Bond: Is Opposing It Punishing Kids?In a letter to the Wichita Eagle, Angela Sader of Wichita says “Don’t punish kids.” (See Letters to the Editor, October 8, 2008) One criticism Ms. Sader makes of myself and another school bond issue opponent in her letter is “A primary complaint has been that the Wichita school district and state generally are not…
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Wichita School Bond: The School District’s Refusal to Understand Nudging
Read more: Wichita School Bond: The School District’s Refusal to Understand NudgingIn support of the proposed Wichita school bond issue, USD 259 claims overcrowding. It may be true that some schools are overcrowded, but the district as a whole has quite a bit of capacity. Wichita school district claims of overcrowding must be examined with caution. The article Do We Know if Enrollment Numbers Support Wichita…
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Earmarks are (not) OK
Read more: Earmarks are (not) OKIn a Wichita Eagle letter, writer Prem N. Bajaj of Wichita makes the case that Earmarks are OK. But only by tortured reasoning, in my opinion. First, he states: “Earmarks finance local projects that the community is unable to support.” I ask Mr. Bajaj this question: Where, if not from community, does money for earmarks…
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Wichita’s new airport terminal: Has its time passed?
Read more: Wichita’s new airport terminal: Has its time passed?As shown in the accompanying chart, Wichita’s air traffic has been growing at a faster rate than the nation as a whole. Recently it has leveled off and even dropped. What will happen in the future? Almost no one has an optimistic outlook for airlines, and with the recent turmoil in the markets, the outlook…
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Wichita School Bond Issue: In Review
Read more: Wichita School Bond Issue: In ReviewWichita’s mysterious Boondoggler has a post that summarizes the arguments against the proposed Wichita school bond issue. The summary of the summary is this: The bond is too big and bloated. The bond plan is based on the wrong priorities. Passage of this bond will be positive reinforcement of the failures of the USD 259…
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Documentary Suggests Alternatives To Public School Orthodoxy
Read more: Documentary Suggests Alternatives To Public School OrthodoxyBy Jim Erickson. Reprinted by permission of East Wichita News. It?s called Flunked, and this documentary, narrated by Joe Mantegna, is a shopping list of successful ideas to improve our schools. Those interested in the school bond issue and education in general might want to catch this movie at The Orpheum on October 8. Though…
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Another Wichita School Bond Cartoon Released
Read more: Another Wichita School Bond Cartoon ReleasedHelen Cochran of Citizens For Better Education has released another cartoon about the Wichita school bond issue. Click here to view this humorous commentary.
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Wichita public school logo fight legal costs
Read more: Wichita public school logo fight legal costsYesterday’s Wichita Eagle reported in a story that USD 259, the Wichita public school district, “… worked for about five years to get its mark registered over the objection of Washington apple growers …” The article is referring to a logo that Wichitans for Effective Education has been using on some of its printed materials.…
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Second Wichita School Bond Commercial Released
Read more: Second Wichita School Bond Commercial ReleasedWichitans for Effective Education has released the second in a series of Wichita school bond issue advertisements. Visit the Wichita School Bond Channel at YouTube for more videos.
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Wichita School Bond Cost Could Rise in a Big Way
Read more: Wichita School Bond Cost Could Rise in a Big WayUSD 259 (Wichita public school district) officials have estimated that the interest rate for the proposed Wichita school bond issue would be 4.75%. With the recent turmoil in credit markets, I think it’s impossible to forecast with any degree of certainty what interest rates on long-term bonds might be over the next few years when…
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Are We Angry Only Because We Were Caught?
Read more: Are We Angry Only Because We Were Caught?In his column Welcome to ‘Moral Hazard’, Wall Street Journal editorial writer Daniel Henninger writes: For behind it all sat Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, running mortgage liquidity into the nation’s neighborhoods like an open fire hydrant. Several years ago, when the Journal’s editorial board met with Fannie Mae’s top executives and pressed the issue…
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Will Credit Crisis Affect Wichita School Bond Issue?
Read more: Will Credit Crisis Affect Wichita School Bond Issue?In Toledo, Ohio, there’s a school bond issue on the ballot this year. My friend Maggie Thurber wonders Does ‘credit crisis’ bode ill for arena and school bond issues? No one has any idea of what the market for loanable funds — the credit markets — will look like for the next few years. If…