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January 16-20, 2006

This week’s links:

KNEA is a member of the Kansas Coalition for Workplace Safety (KCWS) which lobbies to preserve workers rights. Click here to visit the website of the KCWS.

Mark Tallman of the Kansas Association of School Boards presented data on the Kansas economy, taxes, and schools to the Senate Education Committee. Click here to see his presentation to the Senate Education Committee.

Teacher of the Year Team visits the Capitol

The Teacher of the Year team, including Kansas Teacher of the Year Ron Poplau, appeared before both the House and Senate Education Committees where they received a warm welcome from legislators.

As continuing proof of Kansas ’ public schools excellence among the states, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School community service teacher Ron Poplau has also been selected as one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year.

The other seven members of the Kansas team are Letitia Petitjean (kindergarten, Obee Elementary, Buhler USD 313), Betty Peterson (mathematics and computers, Nemaha Valley Jr. High in Seneca), Roxie Peterson (kindergarten, Central Elementary in Wamego), Betsy Wiens (mathematics, Washburn Rural Middle School, Auburn-Washburn USD 437), Tana Priddy (reading, Starside Elementary, DeSoto), Laurie Mercer (4^th and 5^th grades, Samuel E. Spaght Accelerated Magnet Academy, Wichita), and Pamela Olson (mathematics, Campus High School, Haysville USD 261). All eight members of the team are members of the Kansas National Education Association.

Legislators had questions ranging from the percentage of a teacher’s monthly pay that was eaten up in health insurance premiums to the average number of hours they spend working in a typical week to the efficacy of all day kindergarten. Needless to say, the teachers were up to the task and challenged legislators’ notions of school with their stories of children whose lives were improved through the commitment of a quality public school and a caring teacher.

Corkins appears before Senate Education Committee

For Education Commissioner Bob Corkins, in his first appearance before the Senate Education Committee as commissioner, it was all “research, research, research.” Corkins repeatedly expressed his desire to make all decisions based on research and proposed a new data gathering system for Kansas schools as part of this approach. Yet when it came to defending his proposal on charter schools he admitted it was based on “anecdotes” and “speculation.”

Corkins told the committee that it is necessary to change the charter school law because local school boards had a tendency to deny applicants and many people with creative ideas just stop trying. When asked by Senator John Vratil (R-Leawood) about the numbers of application denials and approvals, Corkins said he knew of three denials and thought there might be about 30 approvals but he wasn’t sure. Vratil asserted that there did not appear to be an overwhelming number of denials. Corkins then said that there was “anecdotal evidence” that applicants knew in advance they would be denied. He told the committee that the possibility that local boards could deny applicants had had a “chilling effect” on potential applicants who don’t even bother to come forward. When Vratil asked what evidence he had of this “chilling effect,” Corkins responded that he had no evidence; it was “just speculation.” So much for research-based decision making.

Other proposals from Corkins included “growth modeling” under which the state would track student data by individual student rather than cohort groups. Such data could then be used to create the equivalent of an IEP for every child. While committee members generally liked the idea of tracking individual student performance, Senators questioned the cost of such a program especially with their conservative colleagues calling for more of the education budget to be expended “in the classroom.” Senator Janis Lee (D-Smith Center ) tried to press Corkins on the cost to districts of developing and writing an IEP for each child but Corkins would only suggest that they would have to pay for teacher training.

Another issue discussed was the State Board’s legislative proposal to fund all day kindergarten. Senator Greta Goodwin (D-Winfield) wanted to know where the State Board had been when this was proposed in prior legislative sessions and if they would come forward to advocate for it this time. In discussing the cost of the proposal, Corkins said it had a price tag of $77 million if every kindergarten class became an all day class. He suggested that many school districts that did not currently have the capacity to offer it would quickly develop the capacity and that he imagined the first year cost might be as high as $70 million.

Interestingly the conservative Commissioner and State Board members will likely find their all day kindergarten proposal opposed by their equally conservative friends in the legislature. Take for example the following quote from the newsletter of Representative Virgil Peck (R-Tyro). In commenting on the Governor’s State of the State Address, Peck has these thoughts:

“She gave no suggestion for education funding. However, she did say a couple things I entirely agree with about education. In referring to funding she said: “We can’t spend our way to excellence.” The other quote was: “Moms and Dads are the best teachers for any children”. That comment sort of flies in the face of all-day kindergarten, where a child is taken away from Mom and Dad and placed in the government school for more hours each day.” (Emphasis added.)

Near the end of the committee meeting, Senator Vratil asked Corkins if he thought the State Board’s proposal of about $180 million dollars for education would meet the ruling of the Supreme Court. Corkins asserted that the Court would look favorably upon it as a serious first step.

Activities Association rules on dual training challenged

Senate Bill 317, a bill allowing swimmers to participate in club swimming during the high school swimming season, had a hearing in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. The bill was brought forward by Senators Vickie Schmidt, David Wysong, and Mike Peterson on behalf of constituents. At issue is a KSHSAA rule that prohibits student athletes from training or competing in club sports during a high school season. For example, a high school wrestler cannot train with a non-school wrestling club during wrestling season. SB 317 would allow swimmers to participate and train simultaneously on a high school swim team and on a competitive club team sanctioned by United States Swimming. The bill only applies to swimming and diving.

Proponents argue that talented students are left with particularly difficult decisions because some events on the Olympic and International levels are not part of the high school program. Examples include distance swims and diving from a 10 meter platform. Students seeking college scholarships or admittance to Olympic training may lose out through participation on the high school team.

Opponents, including the KSHSAA, argue that dual participation gives a competitive advantage to teams from high schools where clubs are located or where students have the means to afford club participation. Gary Musselman, Executive Director of the KSHSAA, cited student surveys in which 61% of student athletes opposed dual participation.

New education bills introduced in House

Representative Tim Owens (R – Overland Park ) asked that a bill be introduced to establish state-wide start and end dates for the school year set to Labor Day and Memorial Day, a common holiday calendar for all school districts, and the elimination of pupil free inservice days during the school year. Inservice would be a paid activity at other times. Owens’ bill, HB 2651, will have a hearing in the committee next week.

Representative Richard Kelsey (R – Goddard) asked that the committee introduce a bill to allow a charter school appeal to the State Board of Education. This is the charter school bill sought by Commissioner Bob Corkins and the conservative majority on the State Board of Education. The bill would allow anyone wanting to establish a charter school to go around the locally elected school board. HB 2652 is the charter school proposal.

Senate Education Committee continues to gather information  

KASB on schools and taxes

Mark Tallman of the Kansas Association of School Boards came before the Senate Education Committee and presented a vast array of data to the committee concerning student achievement, per pupil spending, and taxation levels in Kansas and compared them with our surrounding states and all the plains states. It is no surprise that Kansas is among the top performing states in the region and is about at the regional average in spending and tax levels. Go to “This Week’s Links” to view Tallman’s presentation.

The Post Audit on meeting 100% proficiency

Barb Hinton, Director of the Legislative Post Audit Division, made a return appearance to provide the Senate Education Committee with information on the out year costs of the outcomes based study. Remember that the LPA did two studies – one is an input based study of the costs of offering everything the state requires and the other is an outcomes based study that examines the cost of bringing students up to the levels of achievement required by the State Board of Education. Since the SBOE has aligned student outcomes to the No Child Left Behind Act, the estimate must show what it would cost to bring all students to proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2013-14. In a sticker shock moment, it was revealed that it would take a cumulative $8.3 billion in new money by 2014! And if that was not enough, those were 2006 dollars not adjusted for future inflation.

House Commerce Committee hears how school funding could be cut

Conservative economist and KU professor Art Hall has been making the rounds of the Capitol suggesting that schools have far too many employees and that a lot of money could be saved if we went back to staffing levels from years gone by. Hall’s analysis is based on looking at staffing in Kansas schools in 1972 and comparing it to today. He asserts that K-12 enrollment today is virtually identical to that of 1972 but the number of full time equivalent teachers and administrators has climbed dramatically. Of course what Hall fails to take into account is the change in expectations and accountability from 1972 to 2006. Special education was not a mandate in 1972, state assessments for accountability and accreditation did not exist, No Child Left Behind had not yet been dreamed of, and high drop out rates were accepted as those students could secure good manufacturing jobs that no longer exist. One may assume that Hall’s raw data on enrollment and staffing may be correct but without a proper analysis of conditions, his conclusions are way off base.

KNEA Legislative Contacts

Blake West, President
Mark Desetti, Director, Legislative and Political Advocacy
Terry Forsyth, Director, Political Action

The KNEA Lobby Team consists of elected leaders and staff. The Lobby Team welcomes member feedback on issues before the Legislature and on this site.