Paid for by Connie O'Brien for Kansas House; Medeana Knipp, Treasurer
EDUCATION
Education makes up 68% of the Kansas Budget, 52% going to K-12 and the other 16% for higher education. The rest of the budget is divided among social services, the justice system, commerce and all other agencies.
Education is the biggest budget item with total expenditures over $5 billion. The Kansas Department of Education puts 2011 per-pupil calculations near $12,000. And they want MORE money! Currently, they have a lawsuit against the state to get that money. This action, if successful, will take from other much needed services. I’m sure you have all heard that Medicare has suffered major cuts. These will continue if the education lobbying group, the largest at the Capitol, gets their way.
This is what Dave Trabert, President of the Kansas Policy Institute wrote to Governor Mark Parkinson on April 14, 2010:
“Schools also have considerable cash reserves built up from revenue
received but not spent in prior years. Not counting money in federal funds
or set aside for capital projects or bond payments, schools began this
year with $699 million in other reserves. Last November, Dale Dennis told
the State Board of Education how schools can legally spend down those
reserves and also acknowledged that schools set that money aside to be
used in the event of revenue declines. Schools could use just 25% of their
revenue carried over from previous years and still have over half a billion
dollars in reserve.”
Education does not need more money. It needs solutions that promote local control of schools, eliminate bureaucracy, encourage higher pay for teachers and provide more resources for the classroom. One solution is the consolidation of districts and fewer superintendents. I believe the money paid to the superintendents, whose average yearly salary is over $100,000, is better utilized to benefit teachers and students.
I support full funding for special education. As a former special education teacher, I have seen where changes need to be made in our schools first hand and will work to bring those improvements to every child in Kansas.
See what your district’s per-pupil expenditure is here.
Education makes up 68% of the Kansas Budget, 52% going to K-12 and the other 16% for higher education. The rest of the budget is divided among social services, the justice system, commerce and all other agencies.
Education is the biggest budget item with total expenditures over $5 billion. The Kansas Department of Education puts 2011 per-pupil calculations near $12,000. And they want MORE money! Currently, they have a lawsuit against the state to get that money. This action, if successful, will take from other much needed services. I’m sure you have all heard that Medicare has suffered major cuts. These will continue if the education lobbying group, the largest at the Capitol, gets their way.
This is what Dave Trabert, President of the Kansas Policy Institute wrote to Governor Mark Parkinson on April 14, 2010:
“Schools also have considerable cash reserves built up from revenue
received but not spent in prior years. Not counting money in federal funds
or set aside for capital projects or bond payments, schools began this
year with $699 million in other reserves. Last November, Dale Dennis told
the State Board of Education how schools can legally spend down those
reserves and also acknowledged that schools set that money aside to be
used in the event of revenue declines. Schools could use just 25% of their
revenue carried over from previous years and still have over half a billion
dollars in reserve.”
Education does not need more money. It needs solutions that promote local control of schools, eliminate bureaucracy, encourage higher pay for teachers and provide more resources for the classroom. One solution is the consolidation of districts and fewer superintendents. I believe the money paid to the superintendents, whose average yearly salary is over $100,000, is better utilized to benefit teachers and students.
I support full funding for special education. As a former special education teacher, I have seen where changes need to be made in our schools first hand and will work to bring those improvements to every child in Kansas.
See what your district’s per-pupil expenditure is here.
