The Kansas State Board of Education voted unanimously to recommend a four-year initiative raising state aid to special education by $86.6 million annually to bring Kansas into compliance with the law.
Gov. Laura Kelly struck down a K-12 budget bill provision that would have decreased funding to more than one-third of Kansas public schools, calling the provision potentially “devastating” for rural communities.
Adam Peters, GOP chairman in Ellis County, draws a parallel between the average Kansas fourth-grader and Janissaries of the 16th century Ottoman feudal system, saying public schools will ”weaponize those children against you.”
The school funding bill forwarded by the Kansas Legislature to Gov. Laura Kelly contained an unexpected budget twist that potentially blindsided as many as 100 public school districts with declining enrollment.
The Kansas Legislature passed a K-12 education package Friday that fully funds public schools but includes expansion of a tax credit for private school students and allows private school students to participate in public school sports and activities.
Kansas teachers of the year rallied at the Statehouse to push for a clean K-12 education funding bill, joined by Gov. Laura Kelly in an attempt to sway lawmakers before the veto override session begins.
Kansas public school officials report more fights between students and more violent attacks on teachers. Many blame the rise on the COVID pandemic, saying students are still adjusting to life back in the classroom.
Senate President Ty Masterson and Rep. Kristey Williams delivered a series of inaccurate statements on gun violence, public school cuts and special education funding during an hourlong public forum Saturday in Augusta.
Molly Adams/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board members on Monday spoke in support of transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students and staff in the district, following the Kansas Legislature’s approval of several bills diminishing transgender people’s rights.
The Legislature canned a much-debated voucher program that would allow unregulated private schools to receive state dollars and put federal COVID-19 relief funds toward special education.
