This article was originally posted 03/15/2020 on SUBV Facebook page
Blue Valley families might be enjoying Spring break, or practicing Social Distancing, or both - but as of now, the Kansas Legislature will be in session this week.
That means - as always - we will be watching what’s going on in Topeka. And although the legislature is unlikely in this election year to outright vote to cut funding for our Blue Valley Schools, they ARE trying to expand the scheme that gives tax dollars to private schools (and therefore takes those dollars away from state funds - including public schools and other essential services). Read more here: https://bit.ly/2QiMjx1
Two bills to expand the so-called Tax Credit Scholarship Program were passed out of the House K-12 Education Budget Committee last week. In voting to pass them out of committee, Blue Valley area legislators Rep. Sean Tarwater (District 27) and Rep. Adam Thomas (District 26) voted YES on these bills and AGAINST Blue Valley Schools.
The other Blue Valley area legislators on the House K-12 Education Budget Committee committee, Rep. Cindy Holscher (District 16) and Rep. (Dr.) David Benson (District 48) voted NO on these bills and FOR Blue Valley Schools.
We contacted all BV-area legislators by email to explain why schemes to give tax dollars to private schools are bad for Blue Valley Schools, and asked them to vote NO. We didn’t get any reply from Tarwater or Thomas. They also heard our in-person testimony in opposition to HB 2465 when we attended the committee; read about that here: https://bit.ly/2WgOOUo.
Ironically, Rep. Tarwater’s district encompasses 12 Blue Valley schools, including 3 of our 5 high schools: Blue Valley High, BV West, and BV Southwest! And this is by no means the first time that Rep.Tarwater has voted against BV students, either. 2019 anti-public education votes by Tarwater and Thomas set them apart from even the most extreme legislators in Johnson County. Read more here: https://bit.ly/39SZwVd
We are especially disappointed in the vote from Tarwater to give tax dollars to private schools, because when he ran in 2016 he told SUBV members in a meeting and at a forum that he was OPPOSED to using tax dollars to fund private schools. In his candidate survey, he wrote, "While I do agree that private education should be an option, and I have a freshman son at Rockhurst, I do not expect that we should ever ask our neighbors to pay for that choice.” Since Tarwater didn’t reply to our emails on the subject, we don’t know what caused him to change his mind, and his vote. Maybe District 27 voters can ask him, and encourage him to oppose tax dollars to private schools when the bills come up for a vote of the full House.
Here are email addresses for these 2 legislators:
Here’s the link to look up YOUR legislators’ email addresses, so you can let them know you OPPOSE any legislation that would give tax dollars to private, usually religious, unaccountable, exclusive schools.
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