Author: Dave Trabert
Mesha Mainor refuses to use the poor and minorities for political gain
Hypocrisy – claiming to have beliefs to which one’s behavior does not conform – has long been a defining characteristic…
Stand Up Blue Valley misleads followers about misleading voters
Sometimes, understanding what someone avoids saying is more telling than how they respond to an issue, which is certainly the…
2023 Freedom Index shows liberty is not a red or blue issue
Seventy-three of the 165 Kansas House and Senate members scored better than 85% on the 2023 Kansas Freedom Index, including Wyandotte County…
2023 state assessment results reflect Einstein’s definition of insanity
The preliminary 2023 state assessment results once again demonstrate that student achievement will remain stubbornly low until the Legislature steps…
Stand Up Blue Valley misleads voters on school board elections
Stand Up Blue Valley, a lobbying group that primarily works to elect legislators who will vote to raise taxes and…
Missouri needs the revenue-neutral Truth in Taxation Act
The Jackson County (Missouri) Assessor’s office is taking a lot of heat for property tax increases over the last several…
SMSD used $4 million extra at-risk state aid to boost SPED cash reserves
The Kansas Legislature provides over $500 million of at-risk funding to deliver services to students at risk of academic failure.[i] …
KSDE deceives school districts on efficiency and achievement
Imagine 100 students take a test where Johnnie gets a C and only four students had higher grades. That puts…
Education officials top the 2022 KPERS ‘millionaires’ list
Data provided by the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System shows Kansas has 3,778 KPERS ‘millionaires’ – state and local government…
Districts continue to ignore the school needs assessment law
For the third consecutive year, a review of 25 school districts’ adherence to the school needs assessment law underscores why…
Former Lansing school board member misleads community on revenue neutral
Former USD 469 Lansing school board member Beth Stevenson is telling the community that holding revenue neutral on local property…
Prairie Village, other JoCo residents reject expensive taxpayer-funded community center
Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson and most City Council members are promoting a new taxpayer-funded community center that would replace…
Kansas expands school choice / tax credit scholarship program in SB 113
Next year a lot more students will be eligible to participate in the tax credit scholarship program with Governor Kelly…
KS Reflector columnist defends bureaucracy with false achievement claims
A guest columnist for the Kansas Reflector wants you to believe that the public school bureaucracy is producing high achievement,…
KS Governor Laura Kelly vetos tax relief worth $244 million in SB 8
As if taking away $1.4 billion in tax relief from Kansans wasn’t bad enough, Governor Laura Kelly today vetoed Senate…
Petty politics prevented $1.4 billion in tax relief in Kansas
Virtually every effort to provide state tax relief over the last ten years was met with the ‘Don’t Be Like…
Employment falls in Laura Kelly’s tax-and-spend economy
The March jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Governor Laura Kelly’s tax-and-spend economy lost 4,800 private-sector jobs…
Flat tax in SB 169 is good for Kansas taxpayers
by Grover Norquist and Dave Trabert It was clear from the very beginning. Despite winning reelection on a message of…
Gov. Kelly’s false claims in veto of income, property, and sales tax relief
It’s no secret that Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is a tax-and-spender — spending has jumped 31% since she took office…
Kelly vetoes bills that protect women and children
If there was ever any doubt about Kansas Governor Laura Kelly being “middle of the road,” as she claimed in…
Bi-partisan self-interest in politics destroys education opportunities
The struggle to get kids a decent education validates Thomas Sowell’s premise on the priorities of most politicians – their…
Kansas Reflector gaslights readers on school funding, makes false accusations of legislators
A recent story about school funding in the Kansas Reflector reminded me of a quote by Winston Churchill – a…
Kansas Legislature passes $1.4 billion tax relief bill in SB 169
Unless Governor Laura Kelly wields her veto pen on SB 169, Kansas taxpayers can look forward to $1.4 billion in…
Change in median sales price distorts Johnson County valuations
Johnson County recently announced a 12% increase in residential property values for 2023, which officials say is justified because the…