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Editorials & Backgrounders

KNEA is a collective voice and the time for us to speak is now

"The message we need to send is simple: Do your work, fund our schools and provide for the future of our state."

By Christy Levings
February 2006

I admit freely that I am hooked on teaching. I love the thrill that comes with watching the lights come on in a student’s eyes when new information becomes not only understandable but a part of that individual’s knowledge base and skills. I get excited just talking about the joys of teaching after over 30 years.

The pleasure is just as great when watching adults learn. For at least eight years we have been observing elected policy-makers study school finance.

Now, as a teacher, I strongly advocate providing information in a variety of formats and giving multiple opportunities to study information to meet the needs of all learners.

Our Legislature feels the same way. They have studied the recommendations of commissions appointed by two governors (one Republican and one Democrat). They have studied the recommendations of the state board of education.

They have studied the recommendations of independent nationally recognized school finance researchers. They have studied the recommendations of the office of the assistant commissioner of education in charge of school finance.

And most recently, they have studied the recommendations of the Legislative Post Audit of the state of Kansas and more independent finance researchers. Each group has had the task of helping state policy-makers know how much it costs to run and operate a quality education system.

Although it has been studied from different approaches, the end results have been eerily similar. Yes, while some of these policy-maker students keep asking for a new textbook on costs, the same answer keeps coming back – our schools are under funded.

I am going to guess that some of you have encountered a student or two in your career that just did not want to accept that their answer was wrong. They want to run the problem a different way and see if their answer comes up. Sometimes these students need some gentle persuasion to give up ongoing work and come to a conclusion.

Our policy-makers took a trip to the principal’s office last year (actually known as the Supreme Court) and got some incentive to finish their study and to apply all this new knowledge.

As I observed the elected officials receive the information from the last round of study, it was obvious that they really do understand the assignment but some are choosing to ignore the homework.

I have as much compassion for some of these folks as you have with students who ignore deadlines and homework assignments until they are at risk of failing for the 10th semester in a row.

Just like it is hard to a do a semester’s worth of homework assignments in a single evening, it is painful to stay after class and come up with ten years worth of school finance payments.

But here is where Kansans find themselves in 2006. We have some pretty shocked students (our legislators) that just heard about their big overdue assignment (fund our schools and your salaries).

Some will blame the students who came before them and some will blame the principal (the Supreme Court), and some will blame the superintendent (the governor) but we know those House and Senate members who have played this game for 10 years need only look at their voting records to find who is really to blame.

We find ourselves at a serious junction. The debate will be about our core values and beliefs. Already some elected folks are challenging our values. They ask, “Do we need quality programs? Do we need to serve all kids or maybe we should just try to work with the easy ones? Do we need qualified teachers, instructors and professors? How about folks who would be willing to work for lower salaries but lack teaching licenses and training?”

These are questions that tear at the foundations of American public education and they are being discussed right now. The outcome of these discussions will affect your schools and your communities for decades to come.

It is time all of us found our voice in this conversation. We must speak out for our students and for our profession. The purpose of our Association is to be a collective voice, and the time for us to speak is now. And the message we need to send is simple: Do your work, fund our schools and provide for the future of our state.

Elected officials can no longer hide behind a lack of answers and information. The results are in and the numbers are consistent.
I ask all of you to speak at every opportunity and with one voice; now is the time to finish this assignment and make it right.

As public school advocates we must talk, shout and demand that our pre-K through 16 system be given the long-term and consistent support it needs. This cannot be done on the backs of the school employees or by denying our students 21st century skills.

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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