Tag: Wichita and Kansas schools
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Safe Rooms a Priority in Wichita School Bond Issue
It is a noble goal that USD 259 would seek to provide all Wichita schoolchildren with safe storm shelters. For this reason bond issue supporters already have, and will no doubt continue to, promoted the bond issue as necessary for the safety of our city’s children. But instead of congratulating USD 259 officials for their…
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Wichita school bond issue: solve overcrowding this way
According to USD 259 (Wichita public school district) officials, one of the prime reasons a bond issue is needed in 2008 is that schools are overcrowded. New classrooms and new schools must be built, according to district officials, to solve this overcrowding problem. This is another way to reduce overcrowding, and it won’t require spending…
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Wichita School Bond Issue: It’s not the $40, it’s the $1,749
The proposed USD 259 (Wichita public school district) school bond issue in 2008 is estimated to cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $40 per year in additional taxes. Proponents divide that into a monthly cost of about $3.33 per month, or sometimes a daily cost of $.11, to dramatize how little this bond…
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Homeowners not only people affected by Wichita school bond issue
A letter in the February 27, 2008 Wichita Eagle makes the case that using property tax increases to fund improvements to Wichita public schools gives renters a “free ride.” This is because renters, as they don’t own the homes they live in, escape paying property taxes. This is distinguished from homeowners, who “pay for everything,”…
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Wichita school district arithmetic
What could be the basis of the claim that Mr. Gramke made, that the budget was being cut? Is this the way that Wichita school district officials do arithmetic? I suspect that Mr. Gramke was simply exposing the attitude that many government bureaucrats and officials have: if the budget doesn’t increase as much as they…
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Wichita school district tax revenues rise rapidly
The combination of a rising mill levy (the rate at which property is taxed) and rising appraised values mean that property taxes paid to USD 259, the Wichita public school district, rise rapidly.
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Wichita public school spending and enrollment
As the voters of USD 259 (Wichita public school district) consider a bond issue in 2008, consider Wichita public school spending and enrollment figures.
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Testimony against taxpayer-funded lobbying
The following testimony from John Todd explains some of the harmful effects of taxpayer-funded lobbying. Isn’t it terrible that that interests of governmental bodies like the city and county you live in or your local school district are different from your interests? As John explains, local government has become a special interest group, and like…
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Wichita school bond issue impact is an illusion
The money that will pay for the new facilities has to come from somewhere. When people pay taxes to USD 259, those tax payments represent money they can’t spend somewhere else. Economic activity that might have taken place will not, because people had to spend their money on taxes. This means that if the bond…
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Wichita school bond issue not the only proposed tax increase
As the residents of Wichita consider whether to vote for the $350 million school bond issue proposed by the board of USD 259 (Wichita public school district), be aware that the bond issue and its associated increase in property taxes is not the only tax increase the public schools in Kansas would like to have.…
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Wichita School bond issue: don’t indulge superstition
Why hold a special election in April or May when Kansas has elections scheduled in August and November? Is the Wichita school district facing an emergency need for capital improvements that can’t wait a few months? No, Wichita is not Greensburg, where the school buildings were destroyed. In fact, many of the things the proposed…