Paul Davis Archives - Voice For Liberty

05

Nov

Governor vote in Sedgwick County, November 4, 2014

Here’s a map I created of the vote percentage Governor Sam Brownback received by precinct. To use an interactive version of this map, click here. On the interactive map you may zoom and scroll, and you may click on a precinct for more information about the votes for that precinct.

Kansas school claims, numbers don’t match

21

Aug

By Bob Weeks

Kansas school claims, numbers don’t match

Kansas school spending advocates make claims of exploding class sizes that aren't reflected in enrollment and employment data. On Facebook, an activist makes a claim that, if accurate, is alarming: I walked with Paul Davis yesterday. I introduced him to Mrs. Scrutin. She teaches 4th grade at Mill Creek Elementary, here in Lenexa. She has seen class sizes explode from 16, to 23, now for the 2014-2015 school year 30. I gathered data from the Kansas State Department of Education and created an interactive visualization. (I'm not making the visualization available just yet, as there are some data consistency issues…

28

Apr

By Bob Weeks

Kansas school spending, contrary to Paul Davis

Claims about school spending made by a Kansas Democratic Party leader don't quite align with facts. It is commonplace for liberal Kansas politicians and newspaper editorial pages to complain about severely cut spending on schools in Kansas. A recent example is Paul Davis in the Wichita Eagle. Nearby is a chart of Kansas school spending (click it for a larger version). It's adjusted for inflation. Spending is not as high as it was at its peak, but Davis' claim of students who "have experienced severe budget cuts" don't match the facts. Now, it's possible that Davis may want readers to…

After Gannon, will Kansas public school spending boosters still love courts and constitutions?

30

Mar

By Bob Weeks

After Gannon, will Kansas public school spending boosters still love courts and constitutions?

Will Kansas Progressives' expressed love for courts and constitutions hold up in light of the school finance decision? In January Paul Davis, a prominent Kansas Democrat and candidate for governor, tweeted "With the school ruling due any day now, will Brownback comply w/the court order or try & rewrite the KS constitution?" These words were followed by a link to Davis' website that copies an article from the New York Times. (That article has its own host of problems, explained in New York Times on Kansas schools, again and More about the New York Times on Kansas school finance.) This…

WichitaLiberty.TV: For whose benefit are elections, school employment, wind power, unions, unemployment

22

Mar

By Bob Weeks

WichitaLiberty.TV: For whose benefit are elections, school employment, wind power, unions, unemployment

In this episode of WichitaLiberty.TV: The controversy over the timing of city and school board elections provides an insight into government. Then: Can a candidate for governor’s claims about Kansas school employment be believed? Wind power is expensive electricity, very expensive. A Wichita auto dealer pushes back against union protests. Finally, what is the real rate of unemployment in America? Episode 36, broadcast March 23, 2014. View below, or click here to view at YouTube.

Kansas school employment: Mainstream media notices

14

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Kansas school employment: Mainstream media notices

When two liberal newspapers in Kansas notice and report the lies told by a Democratic candidate for governor, we know there's a problem. (Okay, the Kansas City Star is really a Missouri newspaper, but covers Kansas too.) Peter Hancock wrote in the Lawrence Journal World: "Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, reportedly claimed again last week that school funding cuts under Gov. Sam Brownback's administration have led to 'thousands' of teacher layoffs, a claim that has already been shown to be greatly exaggerated." (Davis still exaggerating teacher layoff claims, March 12, 2013) On the same day…

Kansas school employment: The statistics and the claims

19

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Kansas school employment: The statistics and the claims

Claims made about Kansas schools don't match the state's statistics. Responding to the State of the State Address delivered by Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Kansas House of Representatives Minority Leader and gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis provided figures regarding Kansas public schools, telling Kansans: "On top of that, public school class sizes are growing, [and] teachers have been laid off by the thousands." Statistics from Kansas State Department of Education, however, show that school employment has rebounded, both in terms of absolute numbers of teachers and certified employees, and the ratios of pupils to these employees. The story is not the…

Kansas school employment: The claims compared to statistics

16

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Kansas school employment: The claims compared to statistics

Claims made about Kansas schools don't match the state's statistics. Responding to the State of the State Address delivered by Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Kansas House of Representatives Minority Leader and gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis provided figures regarding Kansas public schools, telling Kansans: "On top of that, public school class sizes are growing, [and] teachers have been laid off by the thousands." Statistics from Kansas State Department of Education, however, show that school employment has rebounded, both in terms of absolute numbers of teachers and certified employees, and the ratios of pupils to these employees. The story is not the…

16

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Job claims in Kansas addresses

How can conflicting jobs claims made by two Kansas leaders and candidates for governor be reconciled? Listening to the State of the State Address and the official response might cause Kansans to become confused, or worse. The claims made by Sam Brownback and Paul Davis appear to contain conflicting views of Kansas employment. In the State of the State Address, Brownback said "Since December 2010, Kansas has added on average, more than a thousand private sector jobs every month." Davis, in the official response, said "According to the latest jobs report -- released just a few weeks ago -- there…

27

Dec

By Bob Weeks

Kansas jobs: Who do we believe?

Earlier this week we saw that candidates for Kansas governor have released statements on recent job figures in Kansas. The news releases from Sam Brownback and Paul Davis appear to contain conflicting views of Kansas employment. But we saw that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has two monthly surveys that measure employment levels and trends. There's the Current Population Survey (CPS), also known as the household survey, and there is also the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, also known as the payroll or establishment survey. BLS explains: "These estimates differ because the surveys have distinct definitions of employment and distinct…