Tag: Wichita and Kansas schools
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Wichita School District: TIF Action Tests Accountability and Ethics
The real problem with this TIF district, however, is the conduct of the applicant, who is a member of this board. At a meeting of the Wichita City Council, Reverend Harding told the council that he had informed his fellow school board members of what he was doing. But two members of this board have…
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Testimony before the USD 259 Wichita Public School board regarding the Ken Mar TIF
From John Todd. President Rogers, School Board Members, and Superintendent Libhart, I thank you for this opportunity to speak. My name is John Todd. I live at 1559 Payne in Wichita, Kansas, and I am opposed to the Ken Mar shopping center TIF that was created by the City of Wichita on August 12, 2008,…
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Wichita School Bond Issue Cartoons are Funny
Helen Cochran of Citizens for Better Education has released a political cartoon whose topic is the Wichita school bond issue. She’s told me this is the first of a series. They’ll appear in the Wichita Eagle each Monday, and on CBE’s website right after that. Click here to go to CBE’s website and see the…
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Mark McCormick’s Wichita School Bond Challenge: The Inside Story
Recently Wichita Eagle columnist Mark McCormick challenged Helen Cochran, spokesperson for Citizens for Better Education, a citizen group opposed to the proposed Wichita school bond issue, to answer a few questions. In Sunday’s column he presented Cochran’s answers. I spoke to Ms. Cochran and exchanged a few email messages, and I asked her a few…
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NAACP Hosts Wichita School Bond Issue Mini-debate
I 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!!!
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
After 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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Kansas State SAT Scores Continue a Gradual Decline
In 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
In 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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A Flood of New Wichita Public School Students: The Other Story
In 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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Wichita School District Dodges TIF District Issue
At 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…
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Wichita School District: Don’t Give Up Your Tax and Revenue Base
On August 5, 2008, the Wichita City Council greatly expanded an existing tax increment financing district. This board has 30 days from then to veto the city’s action. I want to explain why this board should do just that.