The Kansas Legislature appropriates half the entire general fund budget and over $4,000,000,000 total each year to support K-12 education. However, the Legislature doesn’t manage public education. That’s up to the State Board of Education and the Kansas State Department of Education. The 286 Kansas school districts spend their state appropriation (along with another billion and a half local dollars) … Read More
Most Kansas legislators won’t declare their principles
Lots of declarations are made on the campaign trail and town hall meetings, but when asked to declare their principles on key state budget and education issues, most Kansas legislators wouldn’t respond. Kansas Policy Institute asked all 165 Kansas legislators to respond to a 6-question multiple choice online survey between January 13 and January 30 but only 34 responded; some … Read More
Student achievement crisis continues
There is an achievement crisis in the Kansas education system that must be reversed if our students are to be prepared for the demands of the dynamic work environments the future promises. The Kansas State Department of Education tells us that in three short years, 71% of jobs in Kansas will require postsecondary education or training. However, according to KSDE, … Read More
Spending variations reveal potential for millions more to classrooms
Variations on non-instructional spending across the 286 school districts represent an opportunity to divert hundreds of millions of dollars back to instruction to help Kansas schools address our achievement crisis. Data published by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) shows that for the 2014-15 school year, spending exceeds $6 billion and averages $13,124 per-pupil. A closer look at this … Read More
Disconnect between Common Core standards and math curriculum place unnecessary burden on teachers
A math curriculum used by over 200,000 classrooms in America, including many in Kansas*, “does not meet Common Core expectations.” This according to Edreports.org in its most recent round of textbook reviews. EdReports.org is a non-profit organization that reviews major textbooks that claim to be aligned with Common Core. It is funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates … Read More
Grade 12 NAEP scores – more evidence that high school seniors are not prepared for college/career
It is a familiar lament among both colleges and employers that U.S. high school graduates are neither ready to move on to higher education nor ready to pursue a career. A national survey indicates the students themselves feel unprepared for college or career upon leaving high school. KPI likes to state that Kansas students do about average in a country … Read More
Student achievement crisis in Kansas
This commentary from KPI president Dave Trabert appeared in the Hays Daily News There are those who believe Kansas has a school funding crisis – even though spending exceeds $13,000 per student and continues to set records – but low student achievement is the real crisis. It’s a shame that so much attention is paid to money and so little … Read More
Nationwide Report on Education Provides Evidence that Kansas Students Perform Poorly in a Nation of Mediocre Achievement
Education Week has released its 20th annual edition of Quality Counts, a report card that provides an overall letter grade for each state’s education system. Kansas earned a C, with an overall score of 73.9 – slightly lower than the national average of 74.4 (also a C). Quality Counts employs three indicators to establish an overall grade. Kansas earned a … Read More
Low-income students stuck on hamster wheel of low proficiency
The Kansas At-Risk program, which was designed to improve academic achievement for low-income students, grew from just over $52 million a year in 2005 to over $390 million annually in 2015. That is an astonishing 650% increase in just a decade! And it didn’t work. Achievement for low income students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was virtually unchanged during that … Read More
KASB says there is no causal relationship between money and outcomes, so why keep bringing it up?
Once again, the topic of money and student outcomes has been put squarely on the front burner. In response to lower NAEP scores the Kansas Association of School Boards has presented written and verbal evidence that a correlation exists between the volume of money spent on education and test scores. But simultaneously, they are careful to say more money doesn’t actually cause higher scores. … Read More