• Inflation-adjusted school funding +52%, teacher pay down 9%

    Inflation-adjusted school funding +52%, teacher pay down 9%0

    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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  • Achievement gaps persist despite KSDE claims

    Achievement gaps persist despite KSDE claims0

    Deputy Commissioner of Education Brad Neuenswander last week told legislators that achievement gaps began to close after funding was "restored," but as is often the case with KSDE, both claims were misleading.  Funding was increased, not cut, and achievement gaps have remained persistently wide. Legislators were told that proficiency – Levels 3 and 4 onREAD MORE
  • KSDE deceives legislators about student achievement

    KSDE deceives legislators about student achievement0

    It’s pretty telling when student achievement is so low that the Kansas Department of Education will only talk about it in generalities. Testimony presented by Deputy Commissioner Bran Neuenswander said state assessment scores were on a decline between 2015 and 2018, began to “level off” in 2019, but then fell in 2021.  (The assessment wasn’t

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