Education Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

An open letter to parents as teachers 0
- Education
- March 29, 2020
Dear parents of school-age children, Even though schools have been closed for the rest of the school year, teaching and learning continue. Most of you are now in a new role, making sure your children are completing their assignments and getting those back to the school. You have now become a teacher. The state was
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A closer look at per-pupil spending and student achievement lowers Kansas rank 0
- Education
- March 9, 2020
When comparing 2019 NAEP composite scale scores and per-pupil expenditures among the 50 states, Kansas ranks 27th in both categories. However, when applying a cost-of-living factor to per-pupil spending, a much different picture emerges – Kansas is spending more than most states and achieving less on what KSDE considers the “gold standard” of educational assessments.
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University spending largely to blame for tuition hikes 0
- Education
- February 24, 2020
Last February, the Kansas City Star and the Wichita Eagle faulted legislators’ lack of funding for tuition increases, but analysis of university spending showed most of the blame went to the universities themselves. Now it’s deja vu all over again – the Star and the Eagle are blaming legislators with one-sided ‘news’ reporting to push
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Low-income students in private schools shine 0
- Education
- February 3, 2020
As we celebrate the tenth annual National School Choice Week, it is once more time to show how most private schools outperform their public school counterparts in getting low-income students college and/or career ready. Yet again in 2019, a much higher percentage of students attending parochial schools in Kansas urban areas scored more college/career ready
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Building-level spending disproves ‘spending drives achievement’ theory 0
- Education
- January 26, 2020
Of the five high schools in USD 500 Kansas City, the one that spends the least amount per-pupil has the highest scores on the state assessment test. Each school has high levels of economically challenged students, but one school earns a ‘B’ for its state assessment results and the other four get an ‘F.’ Spending
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$Audit shows targeted funding misses at-risk students$
Audit shows targeted funding misses at-risk students 0
- Education
- December 15, 2019
(M)ost at-risk spending was used for teachers and programs for all students and did not appear to specifically address at-risk students as required by state law. This statement is the heart of the findings reported by Legislative Post Audit (LPA) in their performance audit K-12 Education: Evaluating At-Risk Student Counts, Weights, and Expenditures released this
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