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Editorials & Backgrounders

For the sake of your students and your paycheck
Vote!

By Christy Levings
August 2004

The start of a new school year is exciting and often nerve racking! We usually need a summer break, even though it often is a very short one due to summer school, professional development and sometimes other employment, just to be ready to cope with the demands of getting a new year up and running.

I welcome you back to the 2004-2005 school year in a period of certainties and uncertainties.

That seems a strange statement for the start of the new school year when students and staff are at their highest levels of enthusiasm and optimism for a successful year. Uncertainties seem out of character for the excited back to school messages we usually share as we begin guiding our students on the quest for new knowledge. It is, however, our reality this year and one we can work to influence and control.

The uncertainties come as the current school finance formula heads to the Kansas Supreme Court for an appeal of a lower court ruling that held the formula to be unconstitutional. At this point no one can be certain as to the outcome of the decision of the Court, which will probably rule in October, but we will start the school year under a cloud of uncertainty and speculation.

Kansas NEA requested permission of the Supreme Court to file an amicus brief (friend of the court) on the school finance case in support of Judge Terry Bullock's decision. We were granted permission by the Court to file such a Brief and our general counsel filed the brief in June on behalf of our members supporting the need for sufficient resources to adequately fund Kansas schools and provide quality public schools throughout the state.

There is one component of school finance that is abundantly clear. All roads to solving this finance problem lead back to the Legislature. Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules, the Kansas Legislature will be charged to find the solution and fund education in our state.

So what does that mean for Kansas schools? It means we need better decision-makers than the group who could not do their work last year. It means that every Kansas educational employee should feel that they must keep a commitment to their students by voting for strong public education candidates and encouraging family members, friends, and even strangers to vote for these folks as well!

It means for the sake of your students and the protection of your paycheck you better make sure you are registered to vote and that you back candidates who support you and your students.

Let's keep those hard workers who fought for public schools in the last legislative session and replace the ones who did not support schools.

So what is it we can be certain of? You can begin the year certain that KNEA is working for you in the political, legal, and education policy arenas to help you, your students and your school or campus have what you need to serve every student who walks in the door. You can bet the bank that KNEA is going to do everything it can to ensure that our members will be protected and served so they can be successful in their jobs.

I am also willing to bet my paycheck that Kansas educators and educational support employees will go back and begin the year prepared to serve students and deliver the type of professional work that they do each school year. The outstanding professional work our members do each day to create one of the finest educational systems in the United States is a certainty all Kansans can depend on.

You can be proud to be a Kansas NEA member because your membership and commitment to your professional organization help make the strong Kansas educational system a certainty for all.

I am certain if we vote, we can make a difference and we can move forward in raising salaries, providing affordable health benefits, and giving schools the resources they need to serve all students.

Together I am certain we can speak for great public schools for all Kansas students.

Christy Levings is the president of the Kansas National Education Association. An elementary teacher on leave from the Olathe School District, she lives in Osawatomie.

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