Both politicians and private citizens agree, at least in Wyandotte County on Saturday, that the most important topic facing the Kansas legislature is school funding.
Sen. Pettey - no state has better [education] results with a smaller budget than Kansas. #ksleg pic.twitter.com/TZaBFkkdf4
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 19, 2016
“I’m very worried about what will happen, whether the doors of the school will open in the fall or not,” said KCK educator Cheryl Sostarish.
Sostarish was one of about 30 people who showed up at the KCK main library Saturday morning for “Legislative Coffee,” a town hall style event put on by the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, The Libraries of Kansas City, Kansas, and the NAACP of both Kansas City, Kansas and Bonner Springs.
Three Kansas lawmakers showed up for the question and answer event: Senator Pat Pettey, Representative Valdenia Winn and Representative Pam Curtis.
"Legislative Coffee" session this morning in WyCo w/ Sen. Pettey, Rep Winn + Rep Curtis. School funding = #1 topic pic.twitter.com/iZXRTbOapG
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 19, 2016
“We definitely don’t want to see the schools face not being able to open come fall,” said Curtis. “So I think there’s some hard work going on right now to try to put some proposals together and then garner some support.”
Lawmakers are having to rework the funding model for Kansas K-12 education after a Supreme Court ruling in February.
“I’m sorry to say but I think that parents and teachers should be concerned because the courts themselves can’t provide a solution, but they could rule that it’s education not being funded fairly and that’s what they’ve done,” said Pettey.
.@JasonKander joining SEIU launch of raise wage campaign in #kc pic.twitter.com/7RDgboJjLP
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 19, 2016
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
