• The KNEA News Room
• Calendar of Events
• KNEA on the Issues
• News Archive
• Read Across America

Editorials & Backgrounders

We want what's right, not what's left for Kansas kids.

By Christy Levings
May 2005

If my magic crystal ball was better I might have known I would begin and end the school year writing about uncertainties in school finance.

As I write this we are waiting once again for the Supreme Court to rule on the Legislature’s attempt to address our funding problems. The first part of the legislative session was difficult to observe as distracting issues took precedence over finding a real solution to stable school funding. There were political groups to be pitted against each other, a governor to embarrass and the paying off of campaign promises, all of which took center stage over any serious discussion of what it truly costs to fund a quality pre K-16 education for Kansas students.

I started the session thinking optimistically that the January decision by the Supreme Court would give the session a real framework for the serious discussion that has been lacking in the last few years. But my optimistic outlook quickly waned. After observing a House Education committee discussion that included how to get legislative credit for pop machine revenues, I began to doubt they would ever get down to the painful topic of finding adequate dollars to fund education.

While some legislators wanted to consider what a quality education really costs, others were ready to believe that no one would notice state funding was insufficient if they would just dumb down the curriculum or limit what schools offer students.

Some legislators proposed prohibiting and penalizing any districts that point out deficiencies in funding by stripping from them the legal costs incurred while challenging the state. Still others worked to change the law so that in school funding cases the courts could only hold the state accountable for a very narrow list of requirements to be funded. In other words, be glad you got what is left regardless of what is right!

H. L. Mencken wrote that “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong.” I read his quote a few weeks ago and it has stayed in my mind. The complex needs of public education from preschool through higher education can not be addressed in some simple and political fashion. They require real cooperation and thoughtful leadership by our elected officials.

As educators, we are accustomed to solving problems quickly and efficiently to serve our students and to make our worksites more efficient. This efficiency and speed does not translate well into the political process. Although my crystal ball does not reveal what battles lay ahead for us, my common sense tells me that we have a long road ahead. We can look at lessons learned in other states. Arkansas, Wyoming and New Jersey have been to the Supreme Court a number of times to force the political process to fund them appropriately. In each of these states the ultimate goal of more funding for schools was achieved through hard work.

The question is “Are we ready to take the long journey to appropriate funding even if that means multiple trips to courts, a number of legislative sessions, and looking at the 2006 elections as the place to hold elected officials accountable?” “Yes!” is the only answer in my mind.

Kansas NEA is committed to serving our members and their students. We can and will keep the strength of our collective membership involved in doing what is right for Kansas students at every educational level.

We will speak out against robbing one level of education to pay for another or one state service to pay for education.

We will object strenuously to subjecting our students to the whims of a political agenda.

We will remain outraged by the inability of this state to address the needs of educational employees in salaries, health care, adequate retirement and working conditions.

In other words, the membership of this amazing organization is ready for the long haul.

So let’s get our voices ready for what may be a wild ride. We will be a collective voice that speaks, comments, advises and yells when necessary for what is right for Kansas students and educators.

We refuse to accept only what is left rather than what is right for the future generations of Kansas.

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.

KNEA News Room Archives
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
For more information about KNEA and our work, contact the KNEA Communications Department.