Author: Dave Trabert
(At least) a $61 million tax increase is coming if revenue-neutral is repealed
More than 2,300 local governments are not raising property taxes this year, and almost 500 more are raising taxes by…
Kansas House votes to increase property tax
Yes, the headline is correct. The Kansas House of Representatives today effectively voted to increase your property tax by again…
House tax committee hears proposal to repeal revenue-neutral; we have a better idea
The Truth in Taxation / Revenue-Neutral Act passed in 2021 is easily the most effective property tax protection that ever…
Cities, counties sitting on more than $5 billion in cash reserves
City and county lobbyists are flooding the state capitol, pressuring legislators not to grant Kansans property tax relief. They tell…
KSDE shows disregard for student achievement, claiming at-risk spending and BNA laws aren’t about improving outcomes
With only 18% of Kansas graduates college-ready (ACT) and about 150,000 students reading below grade level, one might think the…
KSDE halts state assessment waiver request pending State Board vote
At the February 11 State Board of Education meeting, Commissioner of Education Randy Watson told board members that he is…
Kansas appropriately adjusts special education funding
The House Appropriations Committee voted last week to increase special education funding next year by $10 million rather than $72…
Senate approves 3% limit on real estate valuation increases, but the House may not consider it
The Kansas Senate yesterday passed a constitutional amendment that, if approved by the House, would allow voters to decide whether…
KASB attempts to deceive legislators in the SB 47 fiscal note
Having a good BS detector is essential for serving in the Kansas Legislature, especially for interpreting fiscal notes that accompany…
Please, abandon the soft bigotry of low expectations, Dr. Watson
Emerson Elementary School in USD 500 Kansas City received a federal school improvement grant in 2010, and district officials met…
NAEP 2024: Kansas again below the national average on Nation’s Report Card
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), acknowledged as the “gold standard” of assessments by the Kansas Department of Education,…
USD 453 Leavenworth administration misleads school board on state assessment results
The administration at USD 453 Leavenworth consciously gave school board members and parents a false impression of high school state…
Kansas ACT scores and college readiness fall again, hitting new lows
The ACT results just released for the 2024 school year show further declines in both raw scores and college readiness.…
Dismal 2024 state assessment confirms outcomes won’t improve until adult behaviors change
Results and reactions to the 2024 state assessment could have been predicted more than a year ago, and the exact…
Districts approved pay hikes for school administrators in 2024 while outcomes remain tragically low
The 2024 school year was déjà vu all over again – nice pay increases for administrators and low proficiency levels.…
Lansing school board gets deceptive budget proposal from USD 469 Superintendent Marty Kobza
The August 26 budget hearing conducted by the USD 469 Lansing school board was loaded with deception and subterfuge, seemingly…
Shawnee Mission school district’s priority is not on improving outcomes
Shawnee Mission school board members are pondering whether it is equitable to allow community-funded employees since most of the money…
USD 453 should be honest about its proposed 5% property tax increase
At its July board meeting, the USD 453 Leavenworth school board was shown a revenue-neutral rate chart that appears to…
School-level ACT scores show frightening declines since 2015
ACT scores for individual high schools in Kansas show concerning declines since 2015 in most cases. The statewide composite in…
Tax hike coming for the middle class if Trump tax cuts aren’t extended in 2025
President Joe Biden has often said he would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. He said it…
Kansas judge blocks Title IX rule change
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach yesterday won a preliminary injunction halting the implementation of the Biden administration’s Title IX transgender…
Kansas Education Commissioner wants you to believe all students are at grade level
“Prairie Home Companion” on National Public Radio was about the fictional city Lake Wobegon, which host Garrison Keillor described as…
USD 497 Lawrence consciously deceives school board and parents about reading proficiency
According to the Lawrence Journal-World, USD 497 Chief Academic Officer Patrick Kelly announced at the June 10 board meeting that…
Federal court rules against Biden administration’s Title IX rules
Education Week reports the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule, which explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender…