If there is one thing we can count on with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback it is his destruction of the Kansas school system through massive funding cuts. Brownback has been a disaster for Kansas schools and now that he has been re-elected, he is ready to do more damage than ever before.
Since his re-election he has tried to change the way Kansas Supreme court judges are chosen. He wants to fund only schools that show the most success in educating students. He want to simplify funding by creating block grants and he wants to cut the educational funding design to help poor people’s districts.
In order to avoid being chastised by the Kansas Supreme Court, Brownback wants to change the way Supreme Court Justices are chosen. He wants them elected in partisan elections. This would result in the kind of people who elected Brownback to office, voting for judges based on their ideology and not their credentials needed to make reasonable decisions based on law. This is his way of silencing legal criticism of his neglect of public education.
Brownback wants to change the way schools are financed. One change he is pushing for is to fun schools that can demonstrate they are putting out successful students. But what happens to the people in an area where their school has been deemed ineffective. Do we punish the student of an entire district because their school doesn’t work well? What if these students end up without a school altogether because the substandard schools can no longer afford teachers or any funding to run them? Do we just close them down? Do we consolidate education with the successful schools? Brownback hasn't said.
While running for re-election Brownback insinuated that he was planning to increase educational spending. He also said our state budget was in good shape. I hope all who voted for him now realize he lied. The state budget is turning out way worse than he claimed during the election, with shortfalls more than $600 million. Now, as can be expected he wants to make up by taking as much as $45 million in funding from public schools and higher education. He just won't admit that his tax cuts to businesses have not paid off, jobs have not been made and the economy is not expanding. When it all comes down like a house of cards he goes after education.
Brownback’s out right contempt for education has made him one of the most unique politicians in the entire country. Few Governors are politicians of any type have shown this much disdain for education. His disrespect for education is matched only by his contempt for the state's poor. Brownback has urged lawmakers to rewrite the formula used to provide aid to the neediest school districts. He has suggested that programs for poor students be cut first here in Kansas.
A state without educated citizens is one sorry state. Brownback has made Kansas the laughing stock of the nation.
Since his re-election he has tried to change the way Kansas Supreme court judges are chosen. He wants to fund only schools that show the most success in educating students. He want to simplify funding by creating block grants and he wants to cut the educational funding design to help poor people’s districts.
In order to avoid being chastised by the Kansas Supreme Court, Brownback wants to change the way Supreme Court Justices are chosen. He wants them elected in partisan elections. This would result in the kind of people who elected Brownback to office, voting for judges based on their ideology and not their credentials needed to make reasonable decisions based on law. This is his way of silencing legal criticism of his neglect of public education.
Brownback wants to change the way schools are financed. One change he is pushing for is to fun schools that can demonstrate they are putting out successful students. But what happens to the people in an area where their school has been deemed ineffective. Do we punish the student of an entire district because their school doesn’t work well? What if these students end up without a school altogether because the substandard schools can no longer afford teachers or any funding to run them? Do we just close them down? Do we consolidate education with the successful schools? Brownback hasn't said.
While running for re-election Brownback insinuated that he was planning to increase educational spending. He also said our state budget was in good shape. I hope all who voted for him now realize he lied. The state budget is turning out way worse than he claimed during the election, with shortfalls more than $600 million. Now, as can be expected he wants to make up by taking as much as $45 million in funding from public schools and higher education. He just won't admit that his tax cuts to businesses have not paid off, jobs have not been made and the economy is not expanding. When it all comes down like a house of cards he goes after education.
Brownback’s out right contempt for education has made him one of the most unique politicians in the entire country. Few Governors are politicians of any type have shown this much disdain for education. His disrespect for education is matched only by his contempt for the state's poor. Brownback has urged lawmakers to rewrite the formula used to provide aid to the neediest school districts. He has suggested that programs for poor students be cut first here in Kansas.
A state without educated citizens is one sorry state. Brownback has made Kansas the laughing stock of the nation.
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