KCK Schools Suffer, I Blame the Legislature

[KCK]

Well Kansas City, Kansas School District is making even more cuts to its education system. As people in KCK know, our schools are doing pretty crappy. My Step-sister, who attends Wyandotte High School, doesn't even have BOOKS because there is only one book for every 5 to 10 students in a class. I guess she can't study very easily. Its true KCK passed a huge bond issue, but that money went to repairing our crumbling school buildings. Anyway read this.



KCK schools may slash $6.3 million

Sports, summer school, books, transportation could be trimmed

By ANDRE RILEY

Kansan staff writer

The Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools could be forced to slice $6.3 million from its 2004-2005 budget if funding from the state does not increase.

The school district would also redirect $5.6 million in the next-budget, according to a statement released by the school district late Wednesday evening.

If the projection holds, the KCK schools will have sliced nearly $20 million from its budget over the past three years. However, no decisions on the budget have been made at this point, said Carroll Macke, district spokesperson.

He also noted the decision to begin exploring budget cuts is not related to Shawnee County District Court Judge Bullock's ruling Tuesday to shut down the state's schools after June 30 if a new funding formula is crafted by the state legislature.

This is connected to the fact the Legislature adjourned last Saturday without approving a new funding plan, said Macke.

In the statement, Ray Daniels, KCK superintendent, said his goals for the 2004-2005 budget are to protect the school district's instructional programs and to provide raises for employees. The projected budget cuts, said Daniels, put both objectives in jeopardy.

The laundry list of items which could be cut should be familiar to district staff and the community alike. Most were considered at one time or another during cost-cutting efforts of the previous two years.

Teaching, non-teaching and administrative cuts would be a primary consideration for Daniels and his staff. In addition, a hiring freeze for non-teaching positions could also occur. Last year the KCK schools eliminated nearly 45 jobs.

Other possible changes listed by Daniels include delaying the purchase of buses for a third year, delaying the purchase of textbooks for a second year, eliminating transportation for some students, cutting sports and other student activity programs, eliminating educational programs and cutting summer school in 2005.

An increase in state funding is needed, according to Daniels, due to the increasing number of non-traditional students enrolling in the KCK Schools, including the special education and English As A Second Language population.

"State funding for special education is going down while the number of special education students in increasing," said Daniels in a statement. "The state is also cutting support of ESL while our district is seeing an increase in ESL students."

Improved funding for non-traditional students was the hallmark of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' Education First plan proposed to the Legislature earlier this year. The plan would have provided $300 million over three years for special education, ESL as well as other programs such as all-day kindergarten.

Locally the KCK Schools would have received $9.7 million under Education First. The Turner Public Schools were slated to gain $1.1 million while the Piper Unified School District was projected to receive $400,000.

However, Sebelius' plan and other subsequent proposals by other legislators were rejected. In response Bullock, who previously had ordered the Legislature to re-tool the school funding system after finding ruling it unconstitutional in December, issued his remedy following the adjournment of the legislature last week.

Since then, state Attorney General Phill Kline has filed an appeal of Bullock's decision with the Kansas Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the KCK Schools aren't the only local school district experiencing budget woes.

In March the Turner Board of Education voted 4-1 to close Muncie Elementary School to compensate in a projected $300,000 deficit in the 2004-2005 budget, a move that affects as many as 290 students.

[tat2kc]

I just love how the legislature talks up education. How proud they are of the teachers. How everyone is doing a great job. What they don't say is that many teachers are buying supplies out of their own pockets. That some kids don't have books.

They've traded on the good will and dedication of the people in the education field. They don't really give a sh*t about education. Until parents and other concerned citizens get pissed and take action things won't change. These morons spent months posturing and debating stupid things, and passing meaningless legislation, and failed to act on the important things. They spent days on the marriage ammendment, they spent days on concealed carry, they spent too much time with lobbyists. They need to fix the budget FIRST. Then do the other stuff. Obviously thier priorities are misplaced.

[StL_Dan]

I just love how the legislature talks up education. How proud they are of the teachers. How everyone is doing a great job. What they don't say is that many teachers are buying supplies out of their own pockets. That some kids don't have books.

They've traded on the good will and dedication of the people in the education field. They don't really give a sh*t about education. Until parents and other concerned citizens get pissed and take action things won't change. These morons spent months posturing and debating stupid things, and passing meaningless legislation, and failed to act on the important things. They spent days on the marriage ammendment, they spent days on concealed carry, they spent too much time with lobbyists. They need to fix the budget FIRST. Then do the other stuff. Obviously thier priorities are misplaced.

there are some on this forum that would scream to the high heavens if someone got shot by a person carrying a weapon unlawfully. they'd blame it on the governor for not making us safe.

so, spending time on how to carry firearms is prolly a really important issue to some.....moreso than whether some kid has a math book or not.

safety first....everything else after that.

[chrizow]

education forms the foundation of our society. if KCK and other disadvantaged schools got the support they deserve, there wouldn't be as many f-ups shooting people.

fear fear fear fear fear fear. america is safe.

our schools are not.

shame on the conservative primary education establishment for driving our schools into the ground.

Q: what the hell kind of civilized country bases the quality of its KIDS' EDUCATION on the assessed value of their parents real estate?

A: apparently, a country with a lower-level educational system run by a greedy, exclusionist, myopic middle/upper class. can you say "educational apartheid?" (our schoolchildren can't - 3/4 of them couldn't tell a pollster who came first, Shakespeare or Plato).

no wonder our kids (no matter how rich the district) are consistently behind the rest of the world in education. american public education is a joke.

[tat2kc]

it sure explains why American students no longer are the best in the world. As we've slipped on so many other things too.