To “Believe none of what you hear and believe only half of what you see,” is an old saying attributed to both Benjamin Franklin and Edgar Allan Poe. Regardless of who said it – it is certainly true in relation to recent criticism of Kansas public schools.
A Kansas Reflector story on Sunday reported how some Kansas legislators – who want to allow funding for private education at taxpayers’ expense – are criticizing our Kansas public education system unfairly.
The Reflector story’s headline reads: Kansas schools are a success story. Lawmakers don’t want to acknowledge that.
Here are the results of studies from several sources indicating the positive impact of Kansas public schools.
In 2022, a Kansas Association of School Boards study found Kansas ranked 10th in the nation in educational outcomes like preschool enrollment, math and reading scores, college readiness, graduation rate, tuition, fees, and debt at graduation.
Using slightly different criteria Forbes ranked the states with the best public schools. Kansas was 15th!
The Network for Public Education ranked Kansas 10th among all U.S. schools for the state’s willingness to commit to democratically governed public schools.
I’m unsure why some Kansas lawmakers are so interested in tuition tax credits and vouchers. That’s above my pay grade. What I do know is they aren’t making their case by running down Kansas schools.
We owe the local Boards of Education, school administrators, and teachers a giant THANK YOU for keeping our Kansas schools effective through some very difficult times. I’m Steve Sauder
