Kansas Education Funding
In his most recent newsletter, State Representative Lance Kinzer reminds us that Kansas already spends more per pupil than any of our neighboring states. This is a valid point, I think the idea that supporting great quality education requires spending more money sometimes misses the point. Schools need more than just money to be great, more money won't make a bad school great, but inadequate funding can make a great school poor.
The comparison between other states is common in the education debate, and that is where we have really missed the point for thirty years. While competing with Iowa for jobs is important, competing with India is just as important. The US has lagged Asia in math and science education for quite a while and we are beginning to see the negative impact of that on the jobs picture in the US. We need to focus on the competition we will face in the future, not on silly rivalries with other states.
From Rep. Kinzer (I couldn't get his graph to show up properly, please check it out at www.lancekinzer.com):
"The numbers show that Kansas, when compared with surrounding states, is at or near the top in maximum personal income tax rate, state sales tax rate, gasoline tax per gallon, state tax collections per capita and per pupil public school spending.
Kansas is not a low tax state. It is considered by many tax watchdog groups to exact a relatively high financial toll on its citizens. Kansas leads Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma in state tax per capita, gasoline tax per gallon and per pupil public school spending. This point is illustrated by the matrix below: "
Timothy Burger
posted by Timothyb @ 11:28 PM
0 comments
