BALDWIN CITY — State Representative TerriLois Gregory (R, Baldwin City) told an audience of about 50 on Monday “this evening is an educational process for you.”

Gregory held a debate over K-12 school funding in anticipation of a battle in the Kansas Legislature next year.  Gregory  said  ”You’re going to sit in a legislator’s seat .  You get to hear two diverse points of view.”

Mark Tallman, KSAB, and Dave Trabert, KPI, debated K-12 school funding in Baldwin City on Monday

Mark Tallman,Topeka, from the Kansas Association of School Boards, and Dave Trabert, Wichita, from the Kansas Policy Institute, provided the different points of view.

Tallman and Trabert gave separate PowerPoint presentations (see video and slides below) and answered a dozen questions from the audience.

Tallman said there was always a good exchange in such meetings with Trabert and while there were things they agreed on, they also had their differences.

Tallman thought everyone would we agree that “we have to continue to get better.”  Tallman said the main disagreement was over funding for needed improvements. “The people of Kansas are happy with their schools and they don’t want to see a lot of retrenchment in that area.”

Trabert said he hoped there would be more opportunities for such meetings across the state.  “Educating our kids is, if not the most, certainly one of the most important things that we all face and one of the most important things government does.”

Trabert said the cost estimates from the Legislative Post Audit study from Jan. 2006 had limitations and he referred to a statement on p. 2 of that study:

“within these cost studies we weren’t directed to, nor did we try to, examine the most cost-effective way for Kansas school districts to be organized and operated. Those can be major studies in their own right.”

Trabert emphasized the need to understand how much it costs to operate schools in a cost effective manner.  “That study has not been done,” according to Trabert:

“The Montoy court never had the  opportunity to look at what it costs to achieve outcomes and make good use of taxpayer money.  That is something I would hope … somebody would finally have that study done in Kansas because that’s the only way we’re ever going to know if we’re funding schools appropriately.  We have to look at what it costs.”

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Introductory remarks by Rep. TerriLois Gregory

Presentation by Mark Tallman, KASB

Slides:  School Finance for Student Achievement

School Finance for Student Achievement -

KASB Handout:  Improving Kansas Education (12 pages)

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Presentation by Dave Trabert, KPI

 

 

 

 

Slides:  Facts about K-12 Spending and Achievement
Facts about K-12 Spending and Achievement –

KPI Handouts:

• K-12 Total Aid / Amount Per Pupil, 1993-1994 – 2001-2012 (est)
• District Dashboards:  USD 289 Wellsville, USD 290 Ottawa, USD 348 Baldwin City, USD 497 Lawrence

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Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers and approximate locations (mm:ss) in video above:

00:00 Q1. Casino Funds to Education?
01:28 Q2. Equity in School Finance?
04:32 Q3. Proficiency Score? State Rankings?
08:48 Q4. Governor’s Proposal? Sales Tax Sharing?
11:50 Q5. Transparency in Reporting?
15:07 Q6. School Competition?
19:38 Q7. Local Option Tax?
23:38 Q8. Technology? Automation?
26:32 Q9. Virtual Learning?
28:44 Q10. Administrative Staffing?
31:53 Q11. Urban/Rural, Rich/Poor?
35:25 Q12. KPERS, NCLB, Special Ed?
38:58

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Closing Statements by Tallman, Trabert, Gregory

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Handout from State Rep. TerriLois Gregory

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Resources

• Total Expenditures by School District, Kansas State Department of Education, 2001-2011.
• Cost Study Analysis:  Elementary and Secondary Education in Kansas: Estimating the Costs of K-12  Education Using Two Approaches, State of Kansas, Legislative Division of Post Audit, Jan. 2006.
• Kansas Supreme Court Selected Opinion Summaries, Montoy v. State, Docket 92032, June 3, 2005.
• Calculation of the Cost Of A Suitable Education In Kansas In 2000-2001 Using Two Different Analytic Approaches, Augenblick & Myers, May 2002.
• A Comprehensive Study of the Organization of Kansas School Districts, Augenblick & Myers, Jan. 2001.
• Exploring Options for Consolidating Kansas School Districts:  An Overview, State of Kansas, Legislative Division of Post Audit, Aug. 1992.

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Related

• Kansas Association of School Boards’ web site
• Kansas Policy Institute’s web site

• Opponents on Kansas school finance to speak at forum in Baldwin City, Lawrence Journal-World, Nov. 29, 2011.

• Why Not Kansas? Education Summit Panel Discussion with Legislators, Kansas Watchdog, Sept. 20, 2011.

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Contact: Earl F Glynn, earl@kansaswatchdog.org, KansasWatchdog.org

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