There is severe underfunding for public education by the administration of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback in Kansas. In fact it was so much of a problem that some school districts closed early this past school year because they didn’t have the cash to keep operating.

Questions:
1. According to the article, how does the pay for schoolteachers in Kansas compare to other states?
2. Explain what is going on with the state’s entire funding formula for public education.
3. Discuss Mr. Neff’s statement in light of the changes that are taking place in Kansas. …”“A subject matter specialist is just a subject matter specialist, but a teacher is something different.”
4. How did Kansas get to this point? Discuss the outcome in terms of a cost/benefit analysis.

Source:

Strauss, V. (2015). Why teachers can’t hotfoot it out of Kansas fast enough. The Washington Post, August 2. (Retrievable online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/08/02/why-teachers-cant-hotfoot-it-out-of-kansas-fast-enough/?hpid=z4)