Yep, you read that correctly. And a rural county superintendent blows the whistle on this chaos.
http://www2.ljworld.com/...
Topeka — Steve Woolf, a school superintendent in Neosho County, said his jaw hit the table when he learned that Gov. Sam Brownback was going to use welfare funds to pay for a reading program directed at grade-school students in southeast Kansas.
"I'm against taking food from people who are in need and are hungry," said Woolf, who leads the Erie-Galesburg school district, which has about 550 students. "It is morally wrong," he said.
Brownback recently announced a plan to take $12 million from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program and use those federal dollars to try to raise fourth-grade reading scores.
Yes, you read that right. But first, a little back story. Woolf is speaking from Neosho County, Kansas, a decidedly bright red area of Kansas that is a stronghold for Republicans. Dominated with small cities (Erie, Galesberg, etc.) it's only community above 20k is Chanute. And it is an area that is long known for it's steadfast Republican voting. But Sam Brownback has managed to lead the state down such a road where even the people who would normally be in his corner are questioning his actions.
Woolf said Brownback should have consulted educators with the Kansas Department of Education before embarking on this proposal.
"It would be like the governor wanting to do something different with the Statehouse dome and saying, 'I have a buddy in Oklahoma who put a new roof on his garage and he seems to know what he is doing,' " Woolf said.
Woolf said he is a Republican, as is Brownback, and a past admirer of the governor's.
Back in the mid-1980s, Woolf, then a student at Kansas State, served with Brownback on the board of the Flint Hills Breadbasket, which distributed food to the poor.
"He was a young lawyer and caring about people," Woolf said about Brownback.
He said as he followed Brownback's career, he cheered him on, but now he said the governor is a politician "not a statesman."
So, what brought us to this point? Well, the State of Kansas has continued to make cuts in education funding under Brownback, spending a large slice to maintain abandoned buildings as school closings have become the norm. With a pressing lawsuit aiming to show that Brownback's actions may be unconstitutional in our state, there is rumor of potentially more school closings to solve his problem another way.
http://kofonews.wordpress.com/...
OTTAWA — Could the issue of school finance cause the closing of public schools in Kansas next year? What may have seemed unthinkable, is now possible. Area legislators discussed that possibility at Tuesday night’s legislative dinner sponsored by local government officials at Neosho County Community College at Ottawa. A lawsuit over how the state has funded public education, known as Gannon vs State of Kansas, has been before the Kansas Supreme Court, and the high court could issue their decision in January, when the new legislative session convenes. State Rep. Blaine Finch, R-Ottawa, said if the court decides that the school finance system is unconstitutional or that the state’s funding efforts don’t meet adequate levels, there could be an ugly standoff between branches of government. “We could face a constitutioinal crisis in the state,” Finch said. The courts could order the state treasurer not to disburse money to schools, which would basically close all schools, he said. “That will certainly affect tens of thousands of Kansans in a number of ways,” Finch said. Finch said he hopes the justices act with moderation, and don’t try to take over the function of the Kansas Legislature. Many of the school boards which won a previous lawsuit concerning education funding called Montoy, filed suit after the state failed to fund public education at levels outlined in Montoy. Members of the Brownback Administration blamed the recession for the state’s money problems and the drop in state education funding. However, the school districts said that state officials chose to ignore Montoy and made heavy cuts in income taxes.
Just so this can be clear: the courts have already ruled that the State did not meet it's funding requirement. The state didn't follow the previous court order. Now, a second lawsuit is seeking to force the state to follow the guidelines of that first case.
The state is expected to lose. So, how do you get around this problem? Well, Brownback doesn't want to increase funding for schools.. so most assumed school closings - another round - would occur.
Now, however, Brownback has a new scheme.. diverting money from TANF.. taking food money away from those who need it to fill the gap that they refuse to fund in education.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that diverting money from providing food services to the needy (TANF=Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) to fund an education program you've decided to disobey the courts on is a BAD strategy that can only happen here.