There is still a push in the Legislature to block the Common Core education standards. But leaders of the state’s associations of school boards and administrators and teachers union are trying to push back. They wrote lawmakers to try to dispel some of the myths about Common Core and urge them not to defund its implementation. Among their points:
• We support these standards because they establish rigorous academic standards in English language arts and mathematics, and define the knowledge and skills all students should master by the end of each grade to be college- or career-ready upon high school graduation.
• These standards are included in the Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards, and our schools, under the guidance of the state board, have already invested significant resources and time in preparing our members to implement the standards.
• The standards are not a mandate of the federal government. They were created through the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. States that adopted the standards were able to provide input into their development and to add state-specific content.
• The standards are not curriculum; rather they identify where students should be academically at any given time.
When the Wichita school district included storm shelter safe rooms as part of its 2008 bond issue, some opponents of the bond questioned the expense. But the tragedy in Moore, Okla., shows why the rooms are important – even as we hope they are never needed. As The Eagle reported Wednesday, Wichita was the first public school district in the country to build a Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved storm shelter in a school. That was in 2000, and since then the district has built 69 safe rooms. Eight others are under construction, and 14 are in the planning or design stages.
Claims by some conservative state and federal lawmakers that the Common Core education standards are being imposed by the federal government “do not stand up to close scrutiny,” Sol Stern and Joel Klein wrote in a Wall Street Journal commentary. “The Common Core standards were not written by the federal government, but by a committee selected by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.” What’s more, they wrote, “all Americans, including conservatives, should applaud these standards, which celebrate the country’s foundational documents and enable students to share the heritage of Americans.” Attempts in the Kansas Legislature to block Common Core couldn’t make it out of the House and Senate education committees this session, but some GOP lawmakers are trying to tie it to end-of-session budget negotiations. “There is a general resistance to the federal government imposing a curriculum on our Kansas schools,” said Sen. Ty Masterson, R-Andover. That would be understandable if it were happening, but it’s not.
Good for the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and city and county leaders for writing University of Kansas chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little to express their concerns over possible cuts to the KU School of Medicine in Wichita. Gray-Little has said that if the state cuts more funding for university programs, the Wichita medical school likely would be reduced from a four-year program to a two-year program. As the local leaders noted, the Wichita community – particularly area doctors – donated money and helped lead the demanding accreditation process of expanding the medical school to a four-year program. KU shouldn’t abandon all that work. Also, the expanded program addresses a pressing state need for more physicians, particularly in rural Kansas. But it must also be noted that KU wouldn’t be faced with these possible cuts if Gov. Sam Brownback hadn’t signed last year’s massive tax cuts – reductions that the local chamber championed.
Is there more to the suspension of the senior class president at Wichita Heights High School than what school officials have said? They suspended Wesley Teague (in photo) for the rest of the school year and barred him from most graduation activities for what assistant principal Monique Arndt said were “very inappropriate tweets about the Heights athletic teams, aggressively disrespecting many athletes.” But the tweets seemed quite benign. The problem seemed to be the overreaction of some other students. School officials have a difficult job maintaining a safe and healthy school environment, but this punishment seems much too harsh.
The professionals at the Kansas State Department of Education have invested significant time and money in helping develop the Common Core standards, a multistate effort to align standards and progress measures on English and math. And it looks like the standards may escape a legislative attempt to scrap them in Kansas. But Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., was among nine GOP senators who signed a letter last week asking for language in an appropriations bill that would bar the use of funds to develop, implement or evaluate state-level education standards. Also last week, Kansas Reps. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park, and Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, and 31 other House members sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan complaining that the “burdensome and misguided” Common Core standards “fail to address the specific needs of our states,” and raised concerns about how the federal government collects and distributes student data. The Common Core standards have been adopted by 45 states, including Kansas, and the District of Columbia, and officials have said it would cost Kansas $30 million to develop other standards and tests at this point.
At an April Wichita Downtown Rotary luncheon meeting featuring Gov. Sam Brownback, the questioners included Jill Docking, the Democrat and financial adviser who lost to Brownback in his first U.S. Senate race in 1996. Docking, a member of the Kansas Board of Regents from 2007 to 2010, wrote on her policy site, the Docking Blog, about Brownback’s recent lobbying to keep higher-education funding flat by extending the higher sales-tax rate. “Taken on its face, the governor’s endorsement of ‘no cuts’ sounds like support, even the work of a savior. But when you take a look at the history of funding for the regent institutions in Kansas, it becomes apparent that the governor is advocating for maintaining not adequate funding but recession-level funding,” Docking wrote, citing an 11 percent decline in state funding for higher ed from 2008 through 2012. Now that Brownback wants to “lock education funding into recession levels” to help fund his “experimental” business and personal income-tax cuts, she continued, one “danger is that those states reinvesting in higher education after the recession will prey on our talent pool – at the cost of Kansas’ future economic competitiveness. When you understand this context, you come to realize that the governor is not solving the problem of adequate funding of higher education – he is exacerbating it.”
It’s too bad, but not at all surprising, that mediation talks on the state’s school-funding lawsuit have been unsuccessful. Because of confidentiality agreements, it is unclear whether more meetings are scheduled. But given that the state lost the last lawsuit, then reneged on the funding agreement, then chose to cut taxes rather than restore funding, the case always has seemed headed to the Kansas Supreme Court. And it’s difficult to imagine the high court failing to uphold the lower court’s ruling that state funding is unconstitutionally low.
The Kansas Bioscience Authority was set up with a separate governing board in an attempt to minimize political influence on funding decisions. But those walls have been crumbling in recent years. Wichita lawmakers intervened to get funding for a local project, and now Gov. Sam Brownback wants to use KBA’s funding to help pay for an adult stem cell research center. The Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center was an idea hatched this year by some state senators and will be part of the University of Kansas Medical Center. KU never asked for the center, and the project’s medical and commercial merit was never vetted. As part of the spending adjustments that he released this week, Brownback proposed diverting almost $1.2 million from KBA next year to create the center and about $750,000 annually to help pay for its operation.
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ty Masterson, R-Andover, has a novel way to help prevent budget cuts to higher education: Use the $15 million to $30 million in savings resulting from the merger of the Kansas Turnpike Authority with the Kansas Department of Transportation. “I would be willing to use (those savings) to keep higher ed where it was at in the governor’s proposal,” Masterson said. The problem is that the savings are a made-up number. The Brownback administration was never able to explain how a merger would save that much money. Also, lawmakers were so concerned that the merger could degrade the turnpike that they only partially merged the agencies, and they made clear that turnpike fees could not be spent on other roadways.
Though the roles of men and women in the workplace have changed greatly in the past few decades, education has been slower to see changes, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. For example, 89 percent of all the active elementary teaching licenses in Kansas are held by women, according to the Kansas State Department of Education. But men still hold 58 percent of the leadership and administrative roles. Education could benefit from more male elementary teachers and more female administrators.
Rep. Steve Huebert, R-Valley Center, defended a House-passed bill that would require school districts to send a portion of their local-option budget funding to the state that then would be returned to the districts and counted as part of the base state aid. “We need to start focusing on what we’re truly spending on our kids,” Huebert said, noting how total education funding is significantly more than the base aid. But other lawmakers saw the bill as an accounting gimmick aimed at trying to make the state look better to the courts and the public. “I think it is smoke and mirrors,” said Rep. Jim Kelly, R-Independence. “It’s like if you lost the basketball game and you take 10 points from your opponent and then say you won.”
It looks like something great for the community will come from the Wichita school district’s decision last year to close Lincoln Elementary School, thanks to the school board’s vote Monday paving the way to sell the school to the Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County for $260,000 later this month. Staffed by law enforcement officers and others who investigate and fight child abuse, the nonprofit center has been doing its crucial and sensitive work in the awkward setting of the State Office Building downtown. At the former school, it can fulfill its goal of being a one-stop, child-focused crisis center for victims of physical and sexual abuse, human trafficking and Internet crimes. Would taxpayers rather the sale were at a price closer to the appraised value for the property and land of $939,000? Of course. But the community has sorely needed such a center for years now, and as superintendent John Allison said Monday: “This is truly the definition of a win-win.”
The commitment to school needs and funding at the state level remains questionable, but Kansans seem eager to raise taxes to invest in their schools locally. School bond issues passed last week in half a dozen Kansas districts including Lawrence and Shawnee County’s Seaman district, with the winning majorities ranging from 53 percent in Goodland to 92 percent in Goessel. “We were conservative and focused on education and not a lot of wants,” said Jeff Johnson, school board vice president in McPherson, where the bond issue passed with 81 percent of votes.
Agree or disagree with Jeff Davis, vice president of the Wichita school board, who is leaning toward supporting a vote to close the current Southeast High and build a new $54 million building at 127th Street East and Pawnee. But at least Davis has shared his thinking with the community, as of an article in Monday’s Eagle by Suzanne Perez Tobias. “I’ve thought about it and looked at the plans, and I think it’s probably the right way to go,” Davis said, citing the benefits to students of state-of-the-art classrooms and athletic fields and a roomier site. Such talk arguably is premature, because the superintendent hasn’t made a formal recommendation to close Southeast and there haven’t been any public forums to gather stakeholders’ input. But as the process moves forward, the rest of the board members will owe the community their own explanations of their thinking and, ultimately, their votes on the issue, which will be defining for the school’s current 1,600 students and both neighborhoods.
Wichita voters made good choices in Tuesday’s election. They wisely re-elected James Clendenin, Lavonta Williams and Janet Miller to the Wichita City Council. Also, Jeff Blubaugh appears to have defeated Joshua Blick in District 4, though provisional ballots won’t be counted until April 11. In the Wichita school board races, Michael Rodee won in District 5, while Joy Eakins has a slight lead over Scott B. Poor in District 2. The disappointments this election were the low turnout (only 6.19 percent in Sedgwick County) and some ugly campaigning and vandalism. Blick had his home and campaign signs defaced and a vehicle window smashed, and he obtained a protection-from-stalking order against former candidate Craig Gabel, who also is being investigated for possible campaign-finance violations.
It may have gotten lost amid all the excitement about the NCAA basketball tournament, but there is an important election Tuesday. In Wichita, four City Council races are on the ballot, and there are two contested Wichita school board races. Those elected to these governing bodies will face difficult challenges, deciding how the city government promotes economic development and how the school district responds to reduced state funding. Visit The Eagle’s online voter guide to read the candidates’ stances on issues. The Eagle editorial board’s endorsements are at Kansas.com/opinion. And be sure to vote either in advance from 8 a.m. to noon Monday at the Sedgwick County Election Office or Tuesday at your polling place.
Gov. Sam Brownback is unsure about a Kansas Senate-passed bill that would establish new policies for retaining first-graders who lack reading proficiency. “We’ll look at it,” Brownback told the Topeka Capital-Journal, though he prefers his proposal for holding back third-graders who don’t pass reading assessments. Brownback’s plan didn’t make it out of either the House or Senate education committees – and with good reason. Educators note that holding kids back can be counterproductive. There also were concerns about making retention decisions based on only one test and about whether the focus should be on earlier grades, including preschool.
Good for the Legislature for backing off on a bill that would limit the collective-bargaining rights of teachers. Instead, lawmakers decided to give groups representing teachers, school superintendents and local school boards the rest of the year to work on the issue, the Associated Press reported. “Hopefully, some good can come out of this,” said Rep. Marvin Kleeb, R-Overland Park. But as Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, noted, “It should have been done this way in the first place. It would have created a lot less angst.”
Several bills this legislative session reflect a mistrust of public schoolteachers. One bill prevents teachers from having voluntary donations to political action committees deducted from their paychecks. Another bill would weaken teachers’ collective-bargaining rights. Another bill would require them to teach doubts about global warming. Yet when it comes to guns, lawmakers seem to have complete trust in teachers. Under a bill the House approved last week, school boards could allow any employee licensed to carry a concealed handgun to bring a firearm to school.
The Kansas State Board of Education is appropriately concerned that state lawmakers are infringing on its authority. Board members decided Tuesday to send a letter to Gov. Sam Brownback and each member of the Legislature reminding them of the board’s authority and responsibilities under the state constitution, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The board is particularly concerned about a bill that would force the state board to scrap its Common Core academic standards, which some lawmakers mistakenly think were forced on Kansas by the federal government.
It’s strange that as the Legislature talks about denying the University of Kansas Medical Center a requested $10 million to build a new health education building, the Senate would vote 33-7 to create a Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center at KU estimated to cost $10 million over 10 years. Funding for the stem-cell center would come from federal grants, private gifts and other funds, according to a legislative note. “If Kansas could take a leadership position in that, it could be a highly useful thing for people to get treatments,” said Gov. Sam Brownback, who supports the new center but also recommended $10 million in state funding for a health education building at KU. Some KU faculty and administrators also have expressed support for the center, which would do non-embryonic stem-cell research. But such an important decision about the KU Medical Center and the Kansas Board of Regents should not start with a Statehouse mandate. And it’s hard to see why the center should take precedence over KU’s plan for the new $75 million medical building, which will help it train more physicians.
“I think that would be discussed during Celebrate Freedom Week.” – Wichita superintendent John Allison (in photo), on whether legislators discuss governmental checks and balances as they pass meddling education bills such as the Celebrate Freedom Week mandate (via The Eagle’s Suzanne Perez Tobias)
“This whole #ksleg gig is like college. Except everyone hates booze. And strip clubs.” – freshman state Rep. J.R. Claeys, R-Salina, on Twitter
“Most of the nation will wake up Friday morning and yawn.” – U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, before the sequestration cuts kicked in March 1
It turns out Kansas is already like Texas – at least on underfunding schools. A three-judge panel in Topeka ruled last month that Kansas’ school funding was unconstitutionally low. A Texas judge ruled this week that Texas wasn’t providing enough money to schools or distributing it fairly. Rather than increase funding, some Kansas lawmakers think they can prevent such rulings by amending the state constitution. But school attorney John Robb of Newton said that such an amendment likely would lead to more lawsuits.
Gov. Sam Brownback should listen to the head of his school efficiency task force, who noted that the focus on getting 65 percent of school funding “into the classroom” isn’t very useful. “The 65 percent is really an arbitrary number, and there’s no science behind the fact that it either does or does not provide an optimal education for kids,” Ken Willard, a Kansas State Board of Education member from Hutchinson, told lawmakers this week. He also noted that the federal data that Brownback has used to complain about school spending doesn’t include costs that most people would consider instructional, such as counselors and librarians.
There is still a push in the Legislature to block the Common Core education standards. But leaders of the state’s associations of school boards and administrators and teachers union are trying to push back. They wrote lawmakers to try to dispel some of the myths about Common Core and urge them not to defund its implementation. Among their points:
