Kansas House tentatively approves major expansion of school choice policies
Kansas lawmakers gave initial approval to a massive education package Tuesday that would create the state’s most expansive school choice programs to date, impose restrictions on remote learning and allocate funding for K-12 schools.
If approved in a final vote this week, the measure will head to the Kansas Senate and the governor’s desk.
The bill combined several areas of K-12 education policy considered by the legislature this year and tied those measures to overall funding of schools.
Those measures included:
Expansion of existing tax credits for scholarships to private schools,
Creation of an education savings account program allowing “at risk” children to use the money the state would spend on their public education for private school and learning resources
Reduction of per-pupil funding for every student a school has in remote learning beyond a specified period of time.
Over the course of a 90-minute debate, lawmakers amended the policy to lessen the impact in places, reducing the number of students and schools eligible for the school choice programs and creating exceptions to the remote learning provisions.
In Missouri, a sweeping bill that also includes a tax credit scholarship program passed the Missouri House narrowly but hit roadblocks in the Senate last month. Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican who has prioritized the issue, said the bill is still alive and hinted it could be called for floor approval this week.
The Kansas bill saw stiff opposition from public education advocates in Kansas including the Kansas Association of School Boards, state Parent Teachers Association and Kansas National Educators Association.
“Some of the most objectionable parts were addressed (in amendments),” said Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards. “I think it still leaves things that I think most of the education community would continue to be concerned about.”
Opponents said the policies would pull public money into private institutions and risked creating a two-tiered system because private schools could choose who to accept and reject.
“I’m not willing to give up on public schools,” said Rep. Valdenia Winn, a Kansas City Democrat. “There are a lot of issues that could help improve low achieving, we haven’t talked about it.”
But the proposals gained momentum amid parents’ frustration over COVID-19 school closures. Advocates say they will hold school districts accountable to students and parents and provide struggling students the opportunity to try something new.
“We have a problem and it is not funding,” said Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican and chair of the K-12 Budget Committee. “Our kids are already on a slippery slope, many are failing.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Kansas House tentatively approves major expansion of school choice policies."
