Kansas  School  Superintendents

2019 KSSA Legislative Priorities

 

Kansas Superintendents are committed to providing excellent and equitable education for each and every student throughout the State.  To achieve this outcome, we support: 

 

School Funding

  • the Kansas State Board of Education school finance recommendation in response to      the Kansas Supreme Court ruling.

  • a school finance formula based on individual student needs, which provides adequate and equitable funding for public schools, and is funded through a balanced tax policy at both the state and local levels.

  • fully funding a school finance formula designed to address the needs of students and ensure each student and school have the capacity to meet the college and career standards, vision, and accreditation established by the state board.

  • increased funding for early Childhood Education, to include universal Pre-School, as supported by the Kansans Can initiative.

  • fully funding the excess costs of special education.

  • establishing statewide financial incentives to encourage teachers to both enter and stay in the profession.

  • equitable state aid for school bonds that is not arbitrarily capped or dependent on other districts.

  • the further study of funding for out of state students. 

 

School Efficiency

  • local efforts to leverage resources to meet the needs of ALL school districts and the students they educate including but not limited to health insurance and purchasing programs.

  • fully funding legislative mandates.

  • accurate definition of funding that directly impacts classroom instruction.

 

KPERS

  • long-term sustained commitment towards the funding of KPERS.

  • continue to allowing retirees to work after retirement.

  • local boards of education right to hire the most qualified candidate and, if necessary to pay any additional actuarial cost established by KPERS.

  • equitable working after retirement provisions for all public employees.

  • reframing KPERS as a recruitment incentive for new and out of state educators.

 

Educational Governance

  • a system that abides by the Kansas Constitutional requirement that public schools must be operated by locally elected boards of education.

  • the self-executing powers of the State Board of Education.

  • use of public dollars and tax credits to fund public schools, and oppose any public funding for private schools.

  • incentives for local boards to consider consolidation, if in the best interest of the communities involved, and oppose any mandated consolidation.

  • teacher due process procedures established at the local level.

  • the Federal IDEA granted function of IEP teams to determine the content, methodologies, and delivery of instruction based upon unique needs of the child.

 

School Safety

  • efforts to create and maintain safe schools.

  • expanding resources for schools to address social/emotional/mental health needs of students.

  • federal school bus safety standards.