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Town Hall Meeting
Join me on Sunday, February 11 at 2pm
Fairway City Hall
5240 Belinder Road
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Education Update
Successful school days begin with a good breakfast and a safe ride to school. Or so they should. So why are certain legislative leaders trying to claw back funding that ensures Kansas kids have that safe ride to school?
Distract and Discredit
The organized campaign against the Kansas Department of Education, our Deputy Commissioner of Education Dale Dennis, and his staff has created a distraction from the real issues at hand:
- Today, we officially have only 24 days to deliver a legislative solution in the Gannon school finance case by the March 1 deadline set by our Attorney General.
- A constitutional settlement in Gannon will require additional funding, something these same legislative leaders have been arguing against for years.
- The financial audit used by these legislative leaders in their attempt to discredit the Department of Education actually concluded transportation costs many districts an amount significantly greater than the funding they receive from the state.
- SMSD had over $4.4 million in transportation expenses for students who live outside a 2.5 mile radius (mandated by statute) yet received only $3 million in funding from the state.
- The $1.4 million shortfall had to be made up from district funds that otherwise would have been spent in our classrooms.
- The financial audit in question validated the method being used to calculate the transportation weighting and recommended the legislature simply codify it in statute. No criminal intent was alleged (Page 13).
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