Tag: Kansas state government
-
In Kansas, public school establishment attacks high standards
When a Kansas public policy think tank placed ads in Kansas newspapers calling attention to the performance of Kansas schools, the public school establishment didn’t like it. The defense of the Kansas school status quo, especially that coming from Kansas Commissioner of Education Diane DeBacker, ought to cause Kansans to examine the motives of the…
-
Reform KPERS now for the future
Significant structural KPERS reform must happen this year. Our state cannot afford to put this off yet again, writes Kansas State Treasurer Ron Estes.
-
Kansas rates low in access to records
A report by State Integrity Investigation provides detail on the weakness in the application of the Kansas Open Records Act.
-
In Kansas, school reform not on the plate
Conventional wisdom this year is that Kansas is struggling with a plan for school reform. The reality, however, is that the state is merely considering a change in how to pay for its schools. No actual reform is contemplated.
-
Kansas and Wichita lag the nation in tax costs
If we in Kansas and Wichita wonder why our economic growth is slow and our economic development programs don’t seem to be producing results, there is now data to answer the question why: Our tax rates are high — way too high.
-
Kansas education data collected but not shared to inform policymaking
Would you purchase a refrigerator without comparing models and reading reviews? How about buying a car without a test drive or a home without an inspection? If you’re a taxpayer or parent of a school-age child in Kansas, that’s what your elected representatives have done with public education that spends more than half of the…
-
An ill wind blows in Kansas: The politics of renewable energy
Kansas Representative Charlotte O’Hara, who represents Kansas House District 27 in southern Johnson County, offers a look at the politics surrounding wind power in Kansas.
-
Kansas Bioscience Authority hearings, day 2
At the second day of testimony regarding a forensic audit of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, a representative of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback was strongly critical of the audit itself, and also of the Board of Directors of KBA. Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale A. Rodman, who oversaw the audit process on behalf of the Brownback…
-
Wichita Ambassador Hotel illustrates need for pay-to-play laws in Kansas
In the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County, the State of Kansas, and even in Washington DC, we have a problem with rampant legal corruption. The problem deals with the pay-to-play policies of our governments, writes Clinton D. Coen.
-
Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Monday January 30, 2012
Today: Kansas school forum; Ambassador Hotel to be subject of discussion; Capital gains tax rate; Kan-ed audit; Huelskamp and Sharpton; Education reform blog started; Super PACs.
-
For Kansas, spending is the other part of the equation
Kansas tax reform is made difficult by the fact that Kansas has a large, big-spending state government.
-
Kansas Bioscience Authority
The release of a forensics audit of the Kansas Bioscience Authority coupled with two days of joint committee hearings revealed an independent government agency out of control, an audit that draws conclusions described as sanitized of important details, and an agency and legislative supporters who believe that now, all is well at the KBA.