As Kansas prepares to make spending cuts to balance the budget in face of declining revenue, special interest groups roll out the horror stories of what funding cuts will do.
A public school advocacy group in Kansas is sending emails with this message: “A 3-5% cut in school funding will force school districts to make cuts in vital programs. If you remember the cuts that were made prior to the lawsuit included such vital services as foreign language, nurses, counselors, library funding. That was nothing compared to what schools will be forced to make with a 3-5% reduction in funding from the state.”
A YouTube video produced by this group describes the cuts as “draconian.” An online petition on their website states: “I join with other Kansans and call on you to adopt the Governor’s budget recommendations with regard to school funding. It is imperative that we NOT enact across the board cuts which would negatively impact our schools and our economic future. The Governor’s budget already cuts school funding dramatically. Schools can NOT afford deeper cuts. The Kansas Constitution requires the state to provide funding for our schools.”
This organization has played fast and loose with figures in the past, as I show in Kansas Families United for Public Education (KFUPE) on State Aid to Schools. Now it appears this organization goes by the name Kansas Families for Education.
Most Kansans know it’s inconceivable that any organization can’t find some fat to trim, some way to get along on a little less money, and still provide service to its customers. The greed of the education lobby is on full display here.
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