This article was originally posted 4/16/2023 on SUBV Facebook page
Did your BV-area legislators vote to divert tax money to fund private schools? Unfortunately for our kids and their Blue Valley Schools, state senators Kellie Warren and Molly Baumgardner once again voted to fund private schools at the expense of our community’s public schools. So did KS House Reps Sean Tarwater, Carl Turner, and Chris Croft. This article reports on the latest “school funding” bill that included a massive voucher program. Thankfully, the bill was defeated in the Kansas Legislature last week - but anti-public education legislators say they aren’t done trying. Legislators return in late April; it’s time to email yours now! (see below for link)
Kansas legislators who want to use tax money to fund private schools - and, eventually, fund FOR-PROFIT schools, have renamed the programs “Education Savings Accounts” and “School Choice.” This is because they know VOUCHERS aren’t popular with most voters. They’ve bundled things voters do want - fully funding Special Education, for example - with voucher schemes. (Yet, they have refused to vote for funding SPED as part of a clean school funding bill without vouchers attached.) H Sub SB 83 thankfully failed to pass the Kansas Senate last week, but supporters of using tax dollars for private and home schools say they aren’t giving up.
“School Choice” may sound good on the surface. (In fact, families today currently have the choice of where to send their children to school.) But consider: private schools choose the students they want, can discriminate for any reason, and can expel enrolled students at any time for any reason. Private schools are not required to hire accredited teachers, provide any achievement results, and do not have any public oversight to ensure tax dollars are being spent responsibly. Nothing stops private schools from closing down mid-year, leaving students without a school and local public schools with an influx of students they aren’t resourced for.
Some of the “School Choice” bills we’ve seen this session would even reimburse parents via tax credits for homeschooling their children - again, without any oversight as to how tax dollars are being used or whether the students are even being educated.
Tax dollars belong in public schools, where taxpayers have oversight via an elected school board; schools that serve every student including those with special needs; schools that don’t close their doors mid-year leaving families in a bind.
Make sure your Kansas legislators know how you feel, before irrevocable damage is done to our Blue Valley Schools and property values. Use this link to find your legislators’ email addresses and also to see their voting record on this and other bills: https://ksleglookup.org/#/. Include your full name and address in your email. Make it brief and put your opinion in the subject line - for example, “No tax money to private schools” or “Tax money for public schools only.”
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