Here’s one of the great mysteries of Kansas politics: How state Sen. Kay O’Connor, R-Olathe, keeps winning re-election in a county that is almost rabid in its support for public education. O’Connor got national attention a few years ago for appearing to question the nation’s embrace of women’s suffrage, and she has announced a primary challenge to Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh. And while many conservative Republicans have shown a willingness to take seriously this week’s legislative audit calling for $400 million more for K-12 schools, not O’Connor. “I will not vote for more funding. They have plenty of money,” she told The Johnson County Sun. “They need to learn to live within their means.”
Sounds like O’Connor needs to learn to live within the state constitution.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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19 Comments
Since she doesn’t belive that women should be allowed to vote shouldn’t she resign
Anybody see “Stupid in America” on 20/20 last night?
I was going to bring that up Joe, yes I did. I agree, I noticed ten years ago a steady decrease in general knowledge. To the point today while talking to younger people I end up rolling my eyes and thinking “How could you not know that?”. Your mind is like a sand pail, knowledge is like grains of sand. Since you do not know which grain of knowledge you may need in twenty years. It is best to have as much as you can in your pail. I have sited the School systems of “Dumb-ing down “ the children, getting them ready for a service job in their future. This is a poor outlook for the future Americans and the future of America. I would rather meet an educated bum than an uneducated sales clerk. The educated bum is more interesting to interact with and at least the only way is up for them. The uneducated sales clerk often you know more then they do and they are at the top of their game.
In a very backhanded way, this gives me hope for the future. Maybe the voters really DON’T support the extremism that has gripped this country; they were just too busy following the story of Nick and Jessica.
B.S. Rage, they were busy watching “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and then running out to surrender their votes, their money and their brains to Terry, Joe and Fred in typical hypocritical fashion.
Any way we can get her to move to Sedwick county. We need more fiscal responsible people here.
Sorry for the repeat here, but I think this says it all about Kay and her ilk. Justa, you already have your own conservative Kay. Her name is Bonnie Huy. But it is a bipartisan problem. Reference the DINO “Jan Pauls”.
It was that same Sen. Kay O’Conner who, in legislative hearings in 2004, said that once the hate amendment was passed, more companies would move to Ks so they wouldnt have to deal with gays. I heard similar thoughts from your own Bonnie Huy last year.
ROFLMAO. How many companies have moved here on that basis? And…how many companies have left the state? How is that working for ya Kansas?
Must be more of that republican math when they count companies moving here and companies moving out.
i saw 20 / 20 lat night about schools what did you think. I’m a teacher, and i agreed with parts of it, and parts of it affended me by its one sidedness. Tell me what you think
I’m willing to talk about it, but only if its civil. No condesencion no name calling. Wastes my time and yours
excuse my typing trying to get out of the house. Should hav ebeen last and offended
I didn’t see it, but I think I know what they did . . . they asked a bunch of high school sophomores who Karl Marx and Darwin and Bach are and what the Bay of Pigs and the Gulf of Tonkin and Pearl Harbor were.
And let me guess, the kids didn’t have a clue.
Well . . . they’ve been doing stuff like this since the forties and they’ve been cluck, clucking about the ignorance of the American public/school kid since then too.
It’s just a game.
No, some of it was true. Such as not being able to remobe teachers who don’t perform or worse harm kids very easily. They compared test scores from the same test with other from other countries. taleked about teacher unions, which i’m a part, but are our own worst enemies sometimes. things like that. I said I thought it came out a bit onesided, but it also highlighted some of the public school failings
Sorry I’m gonna have to go back and take remedial typing:)
scott, so long we cn tell whst your sayinh, no one cares about yr typin.
Well, Farmgrrl, I knew one woman who was heavily into “end-times” school of Christianity. One day I mentioned John Ashcroft, and she said “Who?” She was appalled at what I told her about him. She probably voted Republican without thinking about it.
And I HAVE met plenty of people who occupy their lives with pop culture and know next-to-nothing about what’s goin’ on.
There are also plenty of hypocrites, as you’ve mentioned. But it’s not the whole picture.—–
I believe the Unions are probably what is the biggest problem in public schools. But Scott, I know you will disagree with me. But seeing the Rubber Rooms in NYC, I’m curious if USD259 is one.
But casting the Union debate aside. I’m relatively young. I went through the public school system. Elementary was great, and 20/20 show last night even remarked that elementary education in the USA is good, but after that, it’s downhill straight to the bottom.
Middle School and High School were the absolute worst years of my life and I didn’t learn much, and I suspect that many students feel that way. Students were undispline, egotisical competition on who is more popular (between students), the funniest, the hard core gangstaish, the richest, the strongest, the sexiest. It became very tribal between students and focus in school became that and not learning, it actually leaned more into the criminal element. It was so bad.
Of course teachers really didn’t care. They are trying to save their own butt and not stir a problem, plus most are just leftist weaklings being PC.
It wasn’t until I went to college when things drastically changed to the better. Learning was great, and college was great. There were none or hardly any of the people in high school that made it so dispictable. Like thugish ghetto gangters, criminals, and the show-offs. It was about learning in college.
That is why I like the 20/20 special, because it was so right, not one-sided. I lived through it.
If I could make a suggestion that would make an incrediable difference in public schools. Make the kids wear uniforms. Trust me! It will work. On that 20/20 special they showed that charter school that was inter-city and it was doing great, compared to the unionized school. Reason? Uniforms for one. Puts students on a equal basis visually, and that WILL make a big difference.
That being said. I don’t have any children yet, but they are diffently going to a private school, vouchers or not. I would never put my own children what I went through in the public school system.
What I saw on 20 / 20 and What i went thru are two different things. I do believe unions get in our way sometimes. But I will tell you I’ve been teaching 10 yrs and until this year I had not received a raise that met the rate of inflation until this yr. So from that aspect teh union was needed because it fought for every penny got all those other years.
Uniforms would be great. I have no problem in fact I told some of our teachers we should dress better if we want to be treated like professionals.
To me the difference between public and private comes down to parents and discipine. More private parents are engaged. I teach about 80 kids a day, mostly lower level, and i saw 10 parenst at conferences. The discilpine issue comes from all teh rules and regulations that school smust adhere to. Kids and parents figure out teh system and then play it for all its worth
Believe me i think schools can always get better, but there is only so much that can be done.
As for your kids I hope they get everything you want them to but don’t buy into teh private school is a pancea fro ewverybody because its not either
My kids went to public schools and they did well.
But they have to get into the “honors” courses, the “AP” courses or the International Bacchalaureate programs. The general run classes are full of Bart Simpsons that pull the level down to clock watching.
I’d like to see public schools move away from lecture, small group work to individuals working at computers with hands on activities. And get rid of homework. Nobody’s doing it anyway. Have the students do work in class under the teacher’s supervision.
Vouchers just enables the already enabled.
Uniforms? NO. Instead teach and advocate teachers and principals to demand of the “properly dressed” that they justify themselves. Seek out the “socials” the “in” crowd, and stomp on them. Do that and they get either deposed from their status…..or motivated to justify and keep it. Do that and you raise the next generation to know that value is in character, not clothes. That popularity is the very crumbs of greatness.
Rebellion should not be squashed but embraced! Quit teaching these kids to be good little capitlaist drones and to stand up for themselves and their peers against the tyranny of the “beautiful people”.
JR. I disagree! School is an institution of learning, not a forum of public speach and display.
We don’t want to raise a generation of losers that will bring this country down. Do not embrace the loser culture of facial and body piercings, smoke pot tee-shirts, and the like.