Frustration and agreement were only a few of Wednesday evening’s vibes at a meeting before the Manahttan/Ogden school district’s usual business discussions.
Before their regular business meeting, USD 383 school board members sat down with a panel of area legislators to discuss education issues. These legislators included 66th District Representative Sydney Carlin, 64th District Representative Susie Swanson, state Senator Tom Hawk, 67th District Representative Tom Phillips, and 51st District Representative Ron Highland.
Several discussions between this panel and the school board ranged from common frustration over Governor Sam Brownback’s funding formulas for public schools to how lobbyists address school funding proposals. During one point in the meeting, Hawk mentioned that retention and recruiting educators has become an issue across the state for reasons like these.
School board member Aaron Estabrook addressed current merit pay proposals for teachers, stating they are “public servants” just like military, and giving rewards to individuals would create a rift in cohesion across their district. He and others also made comments about proposals allowing home-schooled students into the district’s activities such as athletics, and later on, the looming issues relating to the amount of students in the classrooms without adequate space or teacher-to-student ratios.
“I keep hearing we received more money this year,” Said one board member in the midst of a debate, “We reduced our budget by over a million dollars this year and dropped 76 employees.”
Superintendent Bob Shannon had several things to say throughout these discussions, and wrapped up the meeting on a positive note.
“Maintaining a high quality public education system is vital,” Shannon said, “to the economic development, business recruitment, quality of life and economic future of Kansas.”
Ultimately, legislators and board members agreed that in order to ensure that public schools maintain their standards, the public must get more involved in meetings, as well as in self-education on the state’s current policies and attend the booth during voting times.
More from this meeting can be heard on KMAN 93.3 FM, 93.7 FM and 1350 AM Thursday morning.
