Kansas National Education Association
Today's edition of Under the Dome Today -- that's the house organ of the Kansas National Education Association (or KNEA, the teachers union) -- contains a story with the headline "Anti-Government Group launches another attack on public education." A more accurate headline might read "School spending advocacy group refuses to acknowledge budget solution that Kansas Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis says could be used." But that's a tad wordy. The headline is over a story reporting on Kansas Policy Institute president Dave Trabert's testimony to the Kansas House Appropriations Committee. In this testimony, according to the writer for the teachers…
News from alternative media around Kansas for December 21, 2009. KNEA uses incomplete funding data to argue for tax hikes (Kansas Liberty) "Kansas State Department of Education Deputy Commissioner says a common practice of legislators and school advocates is only citing the base state aid K-12 receives for gauging funding levels." Democrat drops out of governor's race (Kansas Liberty) "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Wiggans announced yesterday that he was dropping out of the race amid allegations that he had acted in an ethically questionable manner at a previous job." Economist calls for scrapping state income tax (Kansas Reporter) "Kansas’ economy…
In a story illustrated with several charts, Kansas Liberty shows that the Kansas National Education Association or (KNEA, the teachers union), is not to be trusted when talking about Kansas school finance. Why? School spending advocates claim that spending on schools in Kansas is declining rapidly. It's true that base state aid per pupil, the starting point for the Kansas school finance formula, has been cut. But when considering the total spending by schools, a quite different picture emerges. From the Kansas Liberty story: Dale Dennis, deputy commissioner of education for the Kansas State Department of Education, said the discrepancy…
On Monday and Tuesday, the Kansas House Appropriations Committee held hearings, and big topics were Kansas school funding and the Kansas budget. The reaction by school spending advocates to two speakers is illustrative of the highly divisive nature of public school operation and funding in Kansas. We need to label them school spending advocates -- and government schools at that -- because it is increasingly apparent that increasing school spending (or avoiding necessary reductions in spending) at the expense of all reason is their goal. Suggestions that schools should operate more efficiently or learn to live with a little less…
News from around Kansas for October 12, 2009 Professors, university officials flunk ethics homework assignment (Kansas Watchdog) Many State of Kansas officials, including university professors, are required by law to file conflict of interest statements, called "statements of substantial interest (SSIs)," with their institutions and the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. But 33 university employees are simply ignoring their legal requirements. Star Parker in Wichita (Kansas Watchdog) Star Parker, founder and president of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), told the Wichita Rotary Club during a Monday luncheon that freedom and personal responsibility, though under attack from Washington, are…
Recently Kansas University professor Art Hall, along with a co-author, published a study explaining the funding crisis in KPERS, the Kansas Public Employee Retirement system. In summary, the report states: "The key finding of the study is that the KPERS system will not be in actuarial balance over the thirty year amortization period set in GASB standards. This means that KPERS will continue to accumulate unfunded liabilities for the foreseeable future. It is highly likely that KPERS will continue to impose a heavy tax burden on future generations." This finding has raised quite a protest from those who expect to…
Mark Tallman, assistant executive director of the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB), is arguing that spending on education is more important to a state than moderate tax rates. He makes this case in a recent Topeka Capital-Journal article Education a key to prosperity. As reported: "Tallman said action next year by Kansas lawmakers to cut spending rather than increase investment in education through tax hikes would weaken student instruction and damage prospects of long term growth in the economy." There are several problems with Tallman's reasoning. First, high-tax states are suffering compared to low-tax states. A recent report by…
Reporting by Paul Soutar of the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy shows Kansas Action for Children (KAC) calling for higher taxes on Kansans. Soutar cites a KAC report: "The long-term solution to avoid increasing budget gaps is to update and modernize the Kansas tax system in a way that accurately reflects the current economy and generates sufficient revenues for state funding needs." This guarded language is similar to that issued by the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA, the teachers union). A recent communique to its members contained this: "You see, the Kansas revenue system has something that tax folks…
In Kansas, as across the nation, the teachers union is an important political force. Using a powerful message that no one can oppose -- the welfare of schoolchildren -- teachers unions press their real agenda. In Kansas, the agenda of the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA, the teachers union) includes these items: Increasing taxes to support more spending on schools. Opposing any form of school choice, including charter schools. Opposing the Kansas legislature's ability to set school spending levels, as the Kansas Supreme Court has shown it is willing to spend more than the legislature will. Increasing teacher salaries. Opposing…
After the 2009 Kansas Legislature ended its session in May (notwithstanding the formal closing in June), the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA, the teachers union) produced a document wrapping up the session and setting the stage for the future. It's titled What’s next? (Legislatively speaking). Kansans need to be aware of the agenda of this organization and its allied school spending lobby partners. Using an unimpeachable issue -- "it's all about the kids" -- this organization seeks to increase spending on public schools at great cost to Kansas taxpayers. This is at the same time it works hard to keep…