This article was originally posted 03/21/2021 on SUBV Facebook page
OVER ONE HALF BILLION DOLLARS. That’s what the Kansas Senate wants to CUT from school funding over the next two years. Two Blue Valley-area senators voted for this plan: Kellie Warren (SD 11 - OP & Leawood) and Rob Olson (SD 23 - Olathe). And two BV-area senators voted against it: Cindy Holscher (SD 8 - OP) and Molly Baumgardner (SD 37 - southern OP, Olathe, and surrounding areas).
Thankfully, Governor Laura Kelly has issued a strong statement denouncing these astronomical cuts, as highlighted in this Kansas Reflector article.
“I promised when I became governor that Kansas would not make the mistakes of the past, and that we would fulfill our constitutional obligation to fully fund our public schools, and I will keep that promise,” Kelly said.
“If Senate Bill 267 becomes law it would cut funding for Kansas public schools by more than half a billion dollars,” Kelly said. “The last thing Kansas needs — just as our teachers are vaccinated and our kids are returning to in-person learning — is to sabotage our education system by subverting critical COVID recovery funds.”
The article also notes guidance from the Kansas Department of Education which “concluded federal coronavirus aid to schools couldn’t be used to replace state tax dollars for K-12 schools. He said the department believes the federal aid in question must be spent on costs directly tied to the pandemic.”
The shell game being played by some in the Kansas Senate isn’t fooling anybody. By including one-time federal COVID relief aid in the state budget, as the Senate is attempting to do, education funding for our kids is at significant risk. If it turns out federal aid canNOT be used as a substitute for state dollars, the Kansas Senate will simply say, “Oh, it’s too late now, we already have a budget.” - Kansas schools will have to absorb this gigantic deficit. Mark Our Words. Read the article if you doubt that this is their plan. The Brownback Flashbacks are real, friends. Not only that, the federal aid is intended to be extra, to cover added costs due to COVID. It was not intended to be used to subtract state aid for schools.
How did YOUR State Senator vote on SB 267? Find your legislators here: www.ksleglookup.org
If your Senator is Cindy Holscher or Molly Baumgardner, use the email address in the above link to thank them. If your Senator is Kellie Warren or Rob Olson, use the email address to let them know you oppose this action and ask them to vote against it if it comes around again. While you’re at it, email your State Representative (also at the above link) and let them know you are opposed to the misuse of one-time federal funds in a way they were not intended, and ask that they support funding our Blue Valley Schools adequately with our state tax dollars that were intended for that purpose.
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