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NAACP Hosts Wichita School Bond Issue Mini-debate
Read more: NAACP Hosts Wichita School Bond Issue Mini-debateI was invited by Kevin Myles, president of the Wichita Branch of the NAACP, to participate in a community mini-debate series about the proposed Wichita school bond issue. Lynn Rogers, president of the Wichita school board, also participated. You can read the questions and answers in the post What YOU need to know about the…
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George Fahnestock’s Wichita school bond issue invitation!!!
Read more: George Fahnestock’s Wichita school bond issue invitation!!!In an email message titled “An invitation to hear the Story, the Strategy, and the Situation!!!” Wichita school bond issue celebrity spokesperson George Fahnestock invites a select group of Wichitans to learn about the proposed bond issue. (Isn’t it annoying when the senders of email messages seek to raise the importance and urgency of their…
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Kansas National Education Association candidate questions
Read more: Kansas National Education Association candidate questionsAfter reading them, it became clear to me that the questions are formulated to advance the interests of the teachers union and others wrapped up in — and profiting from — the public school bureaucracy and its monopoly on the use of state education funds. The questions contain many statements expressing support for more taxing…
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Wind Power: Why Special Tax Treatment?
Read more: Wind Power: Why Special Tax Treatment?A recent article in USA Today (Renewable energy firms clamor for tax breaks) reports on the uncertainty of whether the U.S. Congress will extend the tax credits that subsidize solar and wind power investment. From the article: Some $500 million in investment and production tax credits will expire Dec. 31 unless Congress renews them. Without…
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Kansas State SAT Scores Continue a Gradual Decline
Read more: Kansas State SAT Scores Continue a Gradual DeclineIn the post titled State SAT scores continue a gradual decline, Kansas Liberty reports on the latest Scholastic Aptitude Test scores for Kansas college-bound students. The results? Scores are declining. The post connects the decline in scores to the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2005 mandate to increase spending on Kansas schools by a large amount. A…
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Carol Rupe, Kansas School Board Member, Speaks for the Wichita School Bond Issue
Read more: Carol Rupe, Kansas School Board Member, Speaks for the Wichita School Bond IssueIn a letter to the Wichita Eagle, Kansas school board member Carol Rupe makes the case for supporting the Wichita school bond issue. It’s not remarkable that a member of the public school bureaucracy would support increased spending on schools. Her letter is remarkable, however, in what it says, and what it doesn’t say. For…
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The Problem of Environmental Calculation
Read more: The Problem of Environmental CalculationOne of the things about radical environmentalists is that they seem to learn a lesson, only to fail to learn from it. What do I mean? Recently, New York Times writer David Pogue rehashed in a column titled The Bottom Line of the Eco Balance Sheet the “calculus of green” as it relates to the…
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Kansas Blog Roundup for August 29, 2008
Read more: Kansas Blog Roundup for August 29, 2008Kansas bloggers were hard at work again this week, covering a wide variety of topics. A Wichita blog that’s been around for a while but has recently undergone a change in direction is Wichita Art Directory. This blog contains wonderful images of the works of many Wichita artists. Also useful is an extensive list of…
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A Flood of New Wichita Public School Students: The Other Story
Read more: A Flood of New Wichita Public School Students: The Other StoryIn a letter to the editor in the August 28, 2008 Wichita Eagle, Wichitan Frank LaForge makes the case for voting for the Wichita school bond issue in 2008. While doing this he inadvertently makes the case for widespread school choice in Kansas and Wichita.
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Being Open and Transparent: A Sedgwick County Commissioner’s View
Read more: Being Open and Transparent: A Sedgwick County Commissioner’s ViewYesterday (August 27, 2008) I testified briefly at a meeting of the Sedgwick County Commission opposing the formation of a tax increment financing (TIF) district that will benefit a Wichita political insider. My concern that I wanted the commissioners to be aware of is was that the applicant, Wichita school board member Reverend Kevass Harding,…
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Wichita Mayor and City Council Prefer to Work Out of Media Spotlight
Read more: Wichita Mayor and City Council Prefer to Work Out of Media SpotlightIn a statement read at the August 26, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council (see City Council Acts on Arena Area Redevelopment), Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer expressed his concern that “The naysayers have gotten too much media attention while those who are engaged and do the hard work are too often ignored and criticized.”…
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Wichita School District Dodges TIF District Issue
Read more: Wichita School District Dodges TIF District IssueAt the August 25, 2008 meeting of the board of USD 259, the Wichita public school district, John Todd and I addressed the board members, asking that they exercise their veto power over the formation of a tax increment financing (TIF) district recently created by the City of Wichita. My remarks may be read in…