Incredibly proud of Kansans. We've got ourselves a pretty decent education bill.
Your efforts made this happen. Thank you!
The Short Story
Version 3.0 of SB 387 includes the funding we wanted (general and special education) without the worst policies attached. The legislature will vote on the bill when they return the week of April 25.
Looking to learn a little about what happened Friday night into Saturday morning? Read on. It’s not that long…plenty of pictures.
How it started
I had a feeling of dread when I saw this tweet Friday night.
This is what we unaffectionately call #kslegafterdark—we’ve seen some not great things happen when legislators begin cobbling together an important bill this late in the night on the last day of the session.
A nice distraction 😉
I ignored that tweet for a bit to focus on what really mattered—the women’s semi-final NCAA basketball game, of course. I might have experienced some feelings of dread during that game too. #iykyk
But, at the very end, my Hawkeyes got the win. One more game to go. 😬
How it ended (back to the Kansas legislature)
After the game, I checked in on Twitter to catch Leah Fliter’s (KASB) live tweets and things weren’t looking so bad.
And this morning’s tweet confirmed what I had been thinking:
By 2:15 am (earl Saturday morning), the Conference Committee came up with a pretty good compromise bill. The new version of SB 387 (version 3.0) isn’t perfect, but the funding we wanted is there and the most concerning policies were removed.
Quick Summary of the bill
Basically, this 3.0 version of SB 387 includes:
the general education funding set forth in the Gannon Supreme Court case; important because the courts no longer have jurisdiction to ensure the legislature complies.
the first year of special education funding included in the governor’s plan to phase-in the full funding of SPED.
and DOES NOT INCLUDE:
the Kansas Policy Institute’s accounting gimmick that used local dollars to make it appear as if the state was fully funding SPED; effectively would have prevented the full funding of special education in future years.
the policy/program that would have jeopardized funding for at-risk students. Legislators modified to a 2 year pilot program for just 10 schools.
vouchers that divert tax dollars to public schools. None. No SB 509 tax credit voucher and no expansion of the current program in Kansas.
For a comprehensive overview of everything in the bill, check out this Facebook post from Game On for Kansas Schools. I highly recommend following Game On on Facebook and/or on Twitter.
You did this!
If you ever wonder if your one email or phone call will really make a difference, remember that it’s not just your one email or phone call. Yours is one of many and there is so much power in our collective action.
Selfishly, I started this group because I knew I couldn’t create the kind of change I wanted to see if I did it on my own. I started reaching out to friends and making it as easy as possible for them to take action, and many of them did. They told their friends and before I really even knew what I was doing, Six Degrees of Activism was born.
I hope you’ll do the same and reach out to your friends. Advocating for things you care about becomes kind of contagious when you see it working. This quote has always resonated with me.
Stay tuned — our work isn’t quite done
Coming up:
We have a couple of legislative issues that still need attention (some potential vetoes and MEDICAID EXPANSION IS GETTING A VOTE! Sign up at expandkancare.com to get timely action items to advocate for expansion.
We will be turning our attention to the November election and easy actions we can each take to break the supermajority and get more allies in Topeka.
Remember that quote above. Breaking the supermajority will take all of us taking action in some way. I try to provide opportunities that fit everyone’s comfort level and schedule. I hope you will take the successes we’ve seen this legislative session from our work and bring that same enthusiasm to helping good candidates get elected in November.