As the Kansas Legislature decides just how many hundreds of millions of dollars more to give to K-12 education, keep this in mind: using history as a guide, all that money will not improve student outcomes. The graphics are a testament to that. Combining per pupil spending, employment and enrollment data from KSDE with NAEP reading and math scores it … Read More
New Study Shows At-risk Charter School Students Outperform Those in Exclusive Schools
There is no shortage of those critical of charter schools, and most of their criticism is baseless. The doubting-Thomases like to claim that charter schools drain money from traditional public schools. Reviews of charter school funding from coast to coast show otherwise. They claim charter schools do not take special education or other special needs students – also not true. … Read More
Private Schools Better for Low Income Students
The Kansas Association of School Boards tried to give legislators the impression that public schools do just as well as private schools like Catholic and Lutheran schools when adjusting for poverty rates, but the real data shows otherwise. This scatter plot chart was included in their testimony last week, with the red dots showing the Catholic Dioceses and Lutheran schools. … Read More
Kansans want school funding formula to hold districts accountable
School districts and unions are lobbying hard to resurrect Kansas’ outdated funding formula with a lot more money added but citizens clearly want something else. A new market research study released last week shows that Kansans overwhelmingly want a school funding formula that holds districts accountable for spending money efficiently and for improving outcomes. SurveyUSA conducted the study on behalf … Read More
Innovative schools doing nothing all districts couldn’t do with no evidence of increased student achievement
Q. Is there anything innovative schools are doing that all other non-innovative schools couldn’t also be doing? A. No. Although not a direct quote, that was part of a Q & A discussion between members of the House Education Committee and Coalition of Innovative School District (CISD) chairman Bill Mullins during CISD’s annual report to the Legislature. Members from both … Read More
KASB’s State Education Report Card – using facts to mask the truth
Truth is, after all, a moving target Hairs to split and pieces that don’t fit How can anybody be enlightened? Truth is, after all, so poorly lit – Neil Peart There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth. – Maya Angelou You gotta hand it to ‘em. The Kansas Association of School Boards … Read More
KASB, school lawyers ignore reality in naked money grab
Like teenagers lobbying their parents for new stuff, the Kansas Association of School Boards and taxpayer-funded school lawyers want hundreds of millions more from taxpayers, and claim that student achievement hangs in the balance. Teenager: You know, my grades would be a lot better if you buy me a new phone to record notes. And if I had a car, I … Read More
Public radio distorts school funding proposal, covers for Senator’s false claim
Kansas City public radio station KCUR ran a story recently about a group of Democrats and moderate Republicans developing a new school funding formula, which included a false statement by Senator Laura Kelly (D-Topeka) about school property tax. Property tax would not increase statewide as stated in the story, but would actually decrease under the plan developed by Senator Steve … Read More
Senator Kelly misleads on school property taxes
A proposal to drive student achievement AND lower property taxes statewide was deemed “dead on arrival” by a state legislator who seems uninterested in the plight of low income children who are two to three years’ worth of learning behind their more affluent peers. Senator Laura Kelly (D-Topeka) told KCUR Radio that she and other legislators are working on a … Read More
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