Wichita School Bond Issue: In Review

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Wichita’s mysterious Boondoggler has a post that summarizes the arguments against the proposed Wichita school bond issue. The summary of the summary is this:

  • The bond is too big and bloated.
  • The bond plan is based on the wrong priorities.
  • Passage of this bond will be positive reinforcement of the failures of the USD 259 leadership, further setting back real accountability.
  • The behavior of the School Board and others connected with this bond raise questions about the veracity of the BOE and motives of the bond supporters.

Read the full story by clicking here.

Comments

3 responses to “Wichita School Bond Issue: In Review”

  1. Anonymous

    My question is how many of the people that oppose the bond are going to site council meetings or steering committee meetings, etc. The bond was not brought about by a person in the “ivory tower” waving a magic wand. It was brought about by groups of parents, students, teachers and administrators looking at specific needs, in specific buildings. Capital outlay money can not provide all of the funding that is needed for all (or most) of these projects. When one of the committee groups get together, they talk about what we can do for OUR kids. These kids are OUR future and they deserve the best that WE can give them.
    The schools, city, and world are all changing and the need for us to rally behind our schools is now. Schools, and our community, expect much more than they did of us when we were in school.

    There are several intiatives taken on at various levels of high, middle, and elementary schools. These intiatives are working on academic achievement, student/family connectedness, student drop out rates, and in many other areas.

    The place where these opinions of “I support some, but not all,” needed to be in these various committees, that the whole community was allowed to take part in. In these committees, items that were deemed more of a “want” than a “need” were taken off of the facility master plan when it was first being presented to the Board of Education.

    If you vote no, what are you going to do to fix the issues that you bring up? If you believe that academic achievement is important – what part of the solution are you being? Every vote counts – but beyond your vote – what are you doing to make the students in OUR community successful?

  2. Rothbard

    I can’t speak for others, but I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I don’t have to rely on the under-performing public school system to educate MY children. MY children will be educated in the school of MY choice.

    MY children will receive an outstanding education in a private school with superior achievement and graduation rates for a fraction of the money that USD259 receives on a per-pupil basis.

    I truly wish ALL parents had the means and/or ability to make a choice of school, but alas the school board and KNEA doesn’t want that for ALL parents. Governments and their departments/agencies don’t like a free-market in education or in most anything for that matter.

    I am at the point where I have pretty much written off the public school system as corrupt, lazy, and incompetent. Given that I have no skin in the public school scam, I am only interested in trying to prevent any further picking of MY wallet for their failing system.

  3. Partofsolution?

    I am happy that you are able to ensure that your children are being successful. It is wonderful that you are taking a vested interest in their education. Kudos to you!

    Do you feel that because your children are in these schools, it is okay to let your tax dollars be spent in any way that the government see’s fit? It seems that if you were to submit to the ideas that employee’s in public school system are lazy and corrupt, you would want to do something about it in a larger way than just name calling.

    You have had (and still do) opportunities to play a role in the public education system by voting for the BOE, and also help in selecting USD 259’s new leader. As a community member, whether you have students in the school or not, your voice is important.

    One major difference between public and private schools is that public schools have no choice in the students that they get. The teachers (as a whole) receive and lose students every day. Most of these students are amazing! A smaller percentage of them come with a lot of problems that affect everything from student achievement to graduation rate to success beyond public school. The students still need the schools to help them and confront problems that they deal with on a daily basis.

    Hopefully, your view may be broadened a little and you can see that you have a voice in how YOUR money is spent. You CAN be part of the solution to making public education for all children. It does “take a village to raise a child” and your contribution to the “village” is needed now more than ever.

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