Dave Trabert, Author at Kansas Policy Institute

Give kids a fighting chance with choice, transparency, and accountability 0
- Education
- June 27, 2022
The Kansas Association of School Board’s June 14 report on the Governor’s Education Council tells you everything you need to know about the future of K-12 education, and it’s not pretty. The Education Council measures success in dollars, not improving academic achievement. Governor Kelly appointed two retired school superintendents from Kansas City and Dodge CityREAD MORE
Kansas #11 in COL-adjusted spending per student for 2020 0
- Education
- June 9, 2022
Education officials contend schools are underfunded, but Kansas had the 11th-highest spending per student in 2020, adjusted for the cost of living in each state. Education officials also believe the states that spend the most have the best outcomes, yet achievement continues to decline in Kansas while spending shoots significantly higher. So predictably, school officialsREAD MORE

Inflation-adjusted school funding +52%, teacher pay down 9%0
- Education
- May 12, 2022
Allegations of low teacher pay is used to urge legislators for more funding, but money is not the problem or the answer. (For the record, Kansas was #38 in 2019, but adjusted for the cost of living, Kansas was #15). Data from the National Center for Education Statistics, which come from local school districts, show
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Special Education costs are 100% reimbursed, counting all the money 0
- Education
- May 9, 2022
School districts are hammering legislators for underfunding special education, but the Kansas Department of Education formula doesn’t seem to count all of the money. Given credit for all funding, school districts are being reimbursed for 103.4% of total costs this year and 98.7% next year. There seem to be several issues with the formula in
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