USD 273 UPDATES PERSONNEL ON LEGISLATIVE ACTION

Travis Update School Personnel on Legislative Actions

By Terry Bailey

USD 273 Superintendent Jeff Travis conducted staff meetings at both the Beloit Elementary and Beloit Jr. Sr. High School on Wednesday January 28^th. The purpose of these gatherings was to update the community’s education personnel on activities at the Statehouse that may have significant consequences on how education is delivered to students, not only in Beloit, but in the entire state of Kansas.

Travis said, “I have always tried to stay away from political issues and remain neutral, but the goings on in Topeka have serious consequences for the educational community. I think it is important to educate the staff so they can take whatever action they feel necessary.”

It is no secret, particularly after last year’s legislative fiasco, that the budget procedure for the State of Kansas has serious problems. The budgetary process has had ups and downs over the years whether there was a Democrat or Republican in the Governor’s Office. The differences were soon ironed out and a workable budget was forged to fund the operation of the state. Unfortunately, over the past few years gridlock seems to have taken over in Topeka.

The continuing shortfall of dollars to finance the operation of the State of Kansas has caused legislators to look at many places to cut spending or from which to squeeze extra tax dollars. One of the current “solutions” to solve the inequity between income and expenses is to rearrange the school districts in the state. While they refer to it as realignment, the legislature is looking at school district consolidation as a cost saving measure. They are proposing consolidating the current 286 school districts into a possible 132 districts. The rural, sparsely populated school districts would bear the brunt of this course of action.

Another suggested cost saving measure would be for schools to implement a pay-to-pay or pay-to-participate fee for any student participating in any extracurricular activity. This might create a barrier to participation for those who need it most.

Another proposal would be to reduce Early Childhood Grants that fund At-Risk and other early childhood programs. This would mean that kids qualifying for these enrichment programs would have to pay to participate in them.

Another solution would be to redefine At Risk in order to make it more difficult for which to qualify. If fewer kids qualify, there could be fewer, or no, programs.

The possibility of “sweeping” excess dollars from schools districts that do not spend all the money in their budgets have been raised as a way to save money. This would obviously result in a “use it or lose it” mentality.

Finally, there are some legislators who are hypercritical of school finance because not every dollar given to schools is spent in the classroom. This would suggest that the school nurse, school breakfast and lunch programs, physical education activites and many others are not appropriate to the education of children.

There might be some people who might suggest that the taxation policies implemented by Governor Brownback have created taxation and spending issues in the present that did not exist in the past. They may or may not be true. What is true is that the children of Kansas are the state’s greatest natural resource. If the State of Kansas does not appropriately educate our children today because of shortsightedness of those who we entrust with this task, the future of our state is in grave danger.

Other News

Beloit, KS 67420, USA