Budget, SchoolCconsolidation, Juvenile Justice ahead for Kansas Lawmakers

[Ross]

Budget,
School Consolidation,
Juvenile Justice
ahead for
Kansas Lawmakers

Posted by Peter Hancock
February 1, 2016 at midnight

Meanwhile, the House Education Committee plans to work through bills that could radically change the way public schools are organized and financed. Although none of them constitute a new school funding "formula," which lawmakers will have to do either this year or next, the three bills up for discussion this week still would have profound effects on school funding for years to come.

The first, House Bill 2504, would force the consolidation of more than half of the state's school districts by establishing singular, countywide districts in counties with 10,000 or fewer students. And in larger counties, including Douglas County, it would require all remaining districts to have no fewer than 1,500 students.

That would force the Baldwin City school district to be combined into either the Lawrence or Eudora districts. And it would force all six districts in Jefferson County to be merged into one.

But the bill does not specify what would happen to all of the boards of education in the merged districts. Education groups like the Kansas Association of School Boards are already raising alarm bells about "one-person-one-vote" problems if a single, central administration is placed in charge of administering schools that answer to multiple boards in which board members are elected from districts of vastly different sizes.

Also on the Education Committee's schedule this week is a bill that would set up a special legislative committee that would decide which school bond issues will be eligible for state funding aid, and a bill to expand a program that offers tax credits for contribution to private and parochial school scholarship funds.


Read the whole article at:
http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/capitol-report/2016/feb/1/budget-school-consolidation-juvenile-jus/

[Ross]

(My remarks are in Parenthesis  and bold just like this)

Kansas Lawmakers Moving Quickly
to
Balance State Budget

By John Hanna AP Political Writer  Jan 30, 2016

(This is what economic development by governments gets you.)

The state has struggled to balance the budget since Republican legislators slashed personal income taxes at Brownback's urging in 2012 and 2013 in an effort to stimulate the economy.

Most of those reductions have been preserved, but GOP lawmakers last year raised sales and cigarette taxes.

Brownback wants to divert highway funds to general government programs and sell off the assets of a state economic development agency. (Good sell off the assets of a state economic development agency.  Shut down the state economic development agency. Economic Development cost the taxpayer way to much money.)

(So now our SCHOOLS and highways may have to make up for Government mistakes of playing with Economic Development. Something they can do nothing about except for giving money away. This is something that may cost taxpayers even more in the near future. I bet it will eventually lead to even higher property taxes from the state and from School Districts. Recently the state increased our property taxes for the State and County and School Districts by raising the value of our properties,)

(It is said that Economic Development is too difficult to explain, well I disagree!
I think these statements by the State explains it very well.)

(Just some of my thoughts on playing with the taxpayer dollars wastefully?)

The article is located at:
http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/kansas-lawmakers-moving-quickly-to-balance-state-budget/article_ba3bc47b-ef5c-59e0-860d-b41f4015de0b.html