Sunday, August 28, 2016

So the Governor Wants to Hear from Kansans on Education Funding...

Governor Sam Brownback has indicated that he wants to hear from Kansans what they think about our state’s education funding, specifically with regards to a new funding formula. While I’m skeptical that he truly wants to hear what most Kansans seem to be saying with regards to education funding and his tax policies, I nevertheless encourage all Kansans to do so.

So Governor Brownback, here’s what I briefly think. First, eliminate the reckless tax cuts you’ve made (both the business and personal income tax cuts) so that we can begin to recover from the absolute fiscal mess you’ve created for our state. Second, reinstate the previous public education funding system. Third, fully fund it. That’s it in a nutshell. Now if you really want to see the details of what I’ve previously written in regards to public education funding, other public education issues in general, as well as aspects of our state’s governing processes/procedures, then I would refer you to the following:

Relative to the four Salon pieces, while I stand by their content I would have preferred titles that weren’t quite so sensational from a clickbait standpoint. But I didn’t have any say in the matter. Of course my regret hinges on the governor or any of his staff actually reading these, which I admit to being skeptical of. But don’t let my skepticism deter you from speaking your own mind. Whether that’s in the potential town hall meetings or public forums that may end up occurring as a result of this, or just contacting his office via phone, email or letter, I hope he's flooded with pro-public education responses.