State of the State - case closed, money is bad for schools

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

What is it that makes kansasopengov.org a source you can trust?

Because it is a government transparency website devoted to reporting raw numbers straight from official government sources (the numbers I posted above came straight from the Department of Education) without manipulation or editorial content.

It's a service provided by the Kansas Policy Institute, which appears to be a right-wing blog at first glance anyway.

So the numbers didn't come from the KSDE?

[Rage Against the McKee]

What is it that makes kansasopengov.org a source you can trust?

Because it is a government transparency website devoted to reporting raw numbers straight from official government sources (the numbers I posted above came straight from the Department of Education) without manipulation or editorial content.

It's a service provided by the Kansas Policy Institute, which appears to be a right-wing blog at first glance anyway.

So the numbers didn't come from the KSDE?

I'm sure they probably did. We have no idea if the numbers for previous years were calculated the same way as the last few years have been, though. There isn't any transparency coming from the KSDE. The study I quoted got its data from the US Census bureau.

[john "teach me how to" dougie]

I don't trust the US Census Bureau.

[Cire]

2 of my family members are teachers and ksopgov isn't accurate.  Many salaries are inflated

[Kat Kid]

2 of my family members are teachers and ksopgov isn't accurate.  Many salaries are inflated

It is salaries + benefits. 

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

2 of my family members are teachers and ksopgov isn't accurate.  Many salaries are inflated

It is salaries + benefits.

Which makes sense, considering those benefits supposedly make up such an important part of their compensation.

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

Finally found the official spending numbers direct from the KSDE. Buried deep on their website (curious that they're so hard to find...)

http://www.ksde.org/Portals/0/School%20Finance/data_warehouse/total_expenditures/d0Stateexp.pdf

The KansasOpenGov numbers are correct. We are now spending more money on KS education than ever before, both in total dollars and per pupil. Feel free to adjust these numbers for almost non-existent inflation - it won't matter.

I also did a google news search for these numbers. Not one, single, article. Strange.

[Kat Kid]

We went over the differences.  You can make the claim that more money is being spent on schools.  There are lots of resources that will explain what changed in regards to the definition of "per pupil" and "total" spending and why there were competing claims about the issues if you are interested.  It was a major campaign issue the last election.

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

We went over the differences.  You can make the claim that more money is being spent on schools.  There are lots of resources that will explain what changed in regards to the definition of "per pupil" and "total" spending and why there were competing claims about the issues if you are interested.  It was a major campaign issue the last election.

Ok. I'll just use the numbers actually provided by the KS Department of Education.

[CNS]

We went over the differences.  You can make the claim that more money is being spent on schools.  There are lots of resources that will explain what changed in regards to the definition of "per pupil" and "total" spending and why there were competing claims about the issues if you are interested.  It was a major campaign issue the last election.

Ok. I'll just use the numbers actually provided by the KS Department of Education.

Heads up:  This is a department of the same regime that stated over and over during the election that our tax policy isn't going to be a budget issue, then immediately told us all how behind we are on rev one month after winning.

[Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!)]

CNS, give me a buzz when you find a local or state government that doesn't think it's "underfunded" or "starving for resources".  Better yet, call me when one has "more money than it knows what to do with" or at the very least considers itself "satisfactorily funded".

You gals are chasing your tails here.

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

Ok, so I guess we're going to shift from the source of the numbers to pretending that the KSDE is somehow in league with Brownback or the Republican legislators because it's a gov agency?

[Rage Against the McKee]

Ok, so I guess we're going to shift from the source of the numbers to pretending that the KSDE is somehow in league with Brownback or the Republican legislators because it's a gov agency?

They absolutely are told how to calculate/report their numbers by the governor/legislature.

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

Ok, so I guess we're going to shift from the source of the numbers to pretending that the KSDE is somehow in league with Brownback or the Republican legislators because it's a gov agency?

They absolutely are told how to calculate/report their numbers by the governor/legislature.

No, they absolutely aren't. You're absolutely wrong. Take for example...

http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article7843530.html

Gov. Sam Brownback's proposed budget represents about a $127.4 million cut in schools' regular K-12 operating funds from this fiscal year to next year, according to a report released Tuesday [this article is from January] by the state Department of Education.

Some Senate Republicans dispute that the cut is really that deep, saying the education department figure doesn't account for spending on bonds and interest for school construction and payments to the state retirement fund.

The KSDE's computations are not dicated by the governor or republican legislature. In fact, the KSDE has zero incentive to inflate its own figures as to how much is being spent on education. If anything, they are undervalued. Hence, the KSDE burying its own spending calculations. If the numbers could have shown an actual cut, they would have been featured prominently on the front page.

[Rage Against the McKee]

Some Senate Republican leaders dispute that the cut is really that deep, saying the education department figure doesn’t account for spending on bonds and interest for school construction and payments to the state retirement fund.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article7843530.html#storylink=cpy

Interesting that the state ed department figures now account for spending on bonds and interest as well as payments to the state retirement fund. I wonder what changed their minds.

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

As another example, recall the dispute earlier this year over whether those mean Republicans were "cutting" education spending when they revised the budget to appropriate less money than they originally committed to, but still more than the last fiscal year. How'd that happen? The KSDE undervalued the original appropriation in reporting to the legislature. The legislature relied upon the KSDE's numbers in crafting the budget, only to be informed by the KSDE just a few months later that the appropriation they passed was actually $63.6 million more than they intended. So, the legislature amended the budget to reduce the amount by about $28 million. And the libtards went berserk, calling it a "cut." You can read all about it here:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article9524750.html

Your statement that the governor/legislature tells the KSDE how to compute their numbers is asinine. Flat. Out. Wrong.

But even the KSDE cannot deny that funding is at an all time high.

Quit being so naive. :dropsmic:

[Rage Against the McKee]

As another example, recall the dispute earlier this year over whether those mean Republicans were "cutting" education spending when they revised the budget to appropriate less money than they originally committed to, but still more than the last fiscal year. How'd that happen? The KSDE undervalued the original appropriation in reporting to the legislature. The legislature relied upon the KSDE's numbers in crafting the budget, only to be informed by the KSDE just a few months later that the appropriation they passed was actually $63.6 million more than they intended. So, the legislature amended the budget to reduce the amount by about $28 million. And the libtards went berserk, calling it a "cut." You can read all about it here:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article9524750.html

Your statement that the governor/legislature tells the KSDE how to compute their numbers is asinine. Flat. Out. Wrong.

But even the KSDE cannot deny that funding is at an all time high.

Quit being so naive. :dropsmic:

Well, yeah, their formula used to have a lot of moving targets and their estimates were off. It's very similar to how the state sets its budget on variable revenues and end up missing by like $1 billion. It's as much of a cut as the state adjusting taxes to meet expected revenues would be a tax increase.

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

Every time I point out the error in your post, you just shift to something else. I'm done with that.

The KSDE is either getting more money than last year, or they're not. They're either getting more money than ever before, or they're not. In both cases, the answer is indisputably the former, by the KSDE's own numbers.

[Rage Against the McKee]

Where is all of the money going, then?

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-04/kansas-schools-close-early-as-brownback-tax-cuts-squeeze-revenue

[Rage Against the McKee]

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/05/05/3654912/brownback-says-waitress-urged-tip-schools-entitled-opinion/

Clay Barker, Kansas GOP director, wasn’t quite so measured in his response, however, on the television station’s Facebook page, questioning why the station would ignore compliments to the governor and focus on Hough.

Barker wrote, “So you are publicizing her arrogant stupidity and utter ignorance. Typical liberal KS media,” and “Why would the Kansas media, well-known for its frequent liberal, anti-Brownback disposition, go to such lengths to highlight a rude comment from a single individual?”

 

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

Where is all of the money going, then?

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-04/kansas-schools-close-early-as-brownback-tax-cuts-squeeze-revenue

And here you go deflecting to another issue yet again. I can't tell you how individual districts are spending their money (well, actually, I could because this will alleventually be reported by the KSDE, but I'm not going to waste my time on that) - my guess is, wastefully, given that they've got more money than ever before. Or (gasp), maybe closing a couple of days early is a nice publicity stunt.

[Kat Kid]

Every time I point out the error in your post, you just shift to something else. I'm done with that.

The KSDE is either getting more money than last year, or they're not. They're either getting more money than ever before, or they're not. In both cases, the answer is indisputably the former, by the KSDE's own numbers.

Can you explain the chart I posted with the same source as yours that showed that schools weren't getting as much money if you used a consistent definition of "per pupil spending" and adjusted for inflation?

[K-S-U-Wildcats!]

Every time I point out the error in your post, you just shift to something else. I'm done with that.

The KSDE is either getting more money than last year, or they're not. They're either getting more money than ever before, or they're not. In both cases, the answer is indisputably the former, by the KSDE's own numbers.

Can you explain the chart I posted with the same source as yours that showed that schools weren't getting as much money if you used a consistent definition of "per pupil spending" and adjusted for inflation?

You should probably take that up with the KSDE. Let us know when you get a response.

[star seed 7]

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/05/05/3654912/brownback-says-waitress-urged-tip-schools-entitled-opinion/

Clay Barker, Kansas GOP director, wasn’t quite so measured in his response, however, on the television station’s Facebook page, questioning why the station would ignore compliments to the governor and focus on Hough.

Barker wrote, “So you are publicizing her arrogant stupidity and utter ignorance. Typical liberal KS media,” and “Why would the Kansas media, well-known for its frequent liberal, anti-Brownback disposition, go to such lengths to highlight a rude comment from a single individual?”

 

OMG

[CNS]

KS, and all it's liberals, really make daily life tough on 'pubs.