Steve Roses October 26, 2011 column (School Funding Upgrade Possible) misses the mark on the funding

dilemma facing our public schools and threatens public education. I agree with Steve that now the best way to save our schools is through increased local funding. However, instead of identifying the consistent failure of a Republican dominated legislature to grant inflationary increases to base education funding in the current funding model as the real problem, he incorrectly points the finger of blame at teachers, their union and the legislative minority Democrats. The 29 students in my daughters honors geography class at Shawnee Mission Northwest are tangible proof that school funding has been failing to keep pace with inflation. Basic math makes the point. The 1992 formulas base per student funding level of $3,600 has increased by only $337 over the past 19-years. If the lavish social security cost of living increases over the same period were applied, base funding would stand at $5,584. Increasing the base funding is the responsibility of the legislature and their failure to act has created the current crisis. Steves bogeymen in the funding tragedy are comical. The all-powerful teachers union has failed to whip their legislative toadies in line to increase funding to benefit our kids teachers. The Democratic minority is punishing us with evenly applied mediocrity instead of higher taxes for a wasteful government program of public education. The only power groups Steves misdirected broadside left out are our shiftless kids, country bumpkins who want our money and members of the PTA or maybe they are Democrats. Lets get serious about identifying the real enemies and allies of adequately funded public education before its too late. As the past 17-years have demonstrated, a Republican controlled legislature is not going to increase taxes to support school funding. Therefore, local funding control and tax increases initiated locally are the only realistic way to stop the slow motion school funding disaster. Passing the tax increase buck down the line is politics as usual, but it wont be easy or without peril. Legislative action on moving to local funding control will be held up by legislators who hate public education and want to starve the education beast and those seeking to protect the economically disadvantaged and the educational support they get under the current plan. The public school haters will create barriers in the name of protecting local taxpayers from tax increases and will likely seek to weaken public educations constitutional mandate. The disadvantaged will redeploy constitutional protection arguments that led to the current funding model and may fuel popular support for the haters seeking to dismantle our state constitutions public education mandate. Those of us who value great public education and favor local funding control will need to be very careful that in an effort to save public education we do not wind up killing it. We need to be very clear to distinguish between the allies and enemies of public education; Steves column is not a promising start to this process.