It's a sad, sad day in Kansas. The Kansas Supreme Court has ordered the State Legislature to come up with $285 million more for public schools. Apparently, an extra $124 million was not enough to be "adequate". The key word there is adequate. I disagree with this decision for three reasons.
First, I think the court has overstepped its bounds tremendously, telling the Legislature exactly what it is supposed to do. That sounds like the courts making the law instead of interpreting it. It is the Legislature's job to provide adequate funding. If districts disagree with what is adequate, then they may petition the courts and the courts can decide if the legislature has provided adequate funding. However, the court has overstepped its bounds by setting a specific amount and setting a deadline for doing it. Who's in charge around here?
Secondly, the extra money is not going to adequately fund education. If it is merely adequate funding that is necessary (not extraordinary funding nor amazing funding...the state could easily bankrupt itself if it had to provide that much funding), then the courts out to consider private schools and notice how much they spend per pupil. It is quite less than the public schools, even when special education programs are discounted. The problem with the public schools is not that there is not enough money. It is that, in many districts, the money is being used inefficiently. Adding more money will only lead to greater waste because people with bigger budgets tend to spend more, and the state of the education will not improve.
Thirdly, there is no extra money to give to the schools. The state has nearly bankrupted itself by giving an extra $142 million to education. Any additional money will have to come from raising taxes, which will be damaging to the recovering economy, prevent businesses from coming to the state, and prevent consumers from having money to invest in the economy. It is going to harm the state more than help.
Like I said, it's a sad day in bankrupt, overtaxed Kansas
2 comments:
Being a teacher's daughter, I've been hearing a lot about this. You're right, there is no possible way to provide "adequate" funds for the educational departments of the state. It would take all the money out there to give the children what they need, and, sometimes (OK, most of the time), nothing is done because there is not enough respect for the teachers of the world.
So I went to prom at Topeka West and at Seaman this year, and Seaman last year. Yeah, you wanna talk about inefficient spending? Let's just go for Seaman's prom this year. $500 giveaway, $250 giveaway, ten or so $50 giveways, 30'' plasma screen tv, mini refrigerators and microwaves, ipods, dvd players, the list goes on for quite a while. It takes over an hour to give all the stuff away.
But, there isn't enough money for our public schools? Right, whatever you say...
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