Kansas views on blaming Democrats, blaming schools, tax increase, tuition, Confederate flag
Blaming Democrats – Gov. Sam Brownback, after putting his signature on a bill that called for higher tax rates in several areas to balance the state’s budget for fiscal year 2016, pointed his finger at Democrats in the Legislature for failing to help with the process of filling a $400 million hole in that budget. The truth is, it’s been a long time since the governor or legislative leaders wanted to hear anything from their Democratic colleagues, who don’t have enough votes to be obstructionists. The governor and Republican legislators are governing Kansas these days. Pointing fingers elsewhere fools no one.
Blaming schools – Gov. Sam Brownback has shown no interest in daily operations of Garden City’s school district. Yet the far-right Republican governor behind deep cuts to K-12 public schools won’t pass on an opportunity to discredit the local district. During a recent press conference, Brownback made various bogus claims about USD 457 salaries and overall spending. The governor may not seek details of local, cost-efficient ways to educate youngsters, but he would expect local taxpayers to foot the bill for his self-proclaimed economic “experiment” of massive income-tax cuts. That’s the reality Brownback conveniently omits in his tired quest to blame school districts for state budget woes he created.
Tax increase – Burdening the majority of the middle class with taxes at the exclusion of others is not equitable, and will not create economic prosperity for the state. What Gov. Sam Brownback has done is place a Band-Aid on a gaping wound in the state’s tax policy. Kansas will continue to bleed until the tax policy is truly healed.
Tuition increase – Under orders from state legislators and the Kansas Board of Regents, all six state universities held their combined increase in tuition and fees to 3.6 percent for the coming academic year. That’s lower than increases approved in many recent years, but it continues a trend that is putting a university degree financially out of reach for many students. University leaders and regents say the increases are needed to offset the decline in the percentage of university budgets covered by state funding, which certainly is reasonable, but the huge increases in the cost of higher education over the last several decades still are shocking.
University pay raise – The presidents of most Kansas universities have been right to reject a raise approved by the Kansas Board of Regents. In a year when most educational institutions have endured budget cuts, and in a decade in which state employees have seen few, if any, raises, a pay raise for the top administration would seem crass. Leadership comes in many forms, and in this case it comes in the form of recognizing there’s no value in taking something if it can’t be shared with others whose work makes success possible.
Confederate flag – If you want to put a Confederate license plate on your pickup or hang a flag on your living room wall or from your own flagpole, go ahead and give yourself the stamp of ignorance. But displaying a reminder of racism, hatred and slavery from any state property should be out of the question.
This story was originally published June 28, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Kansas views on blaming Democrats, blaming schools, tax increase, tuition, Confederate flag."