About 1,000 attend school choice rally at Kansas Capitol as related bill comes before committee
A sea of yellow scarves descended on the Kansas Capitol Tuesday as an estimated 1,000 people attended the state’s largest ever school choice rally.
Students and parents came from near and far,…

A sea of yellow scarves descended on the Kansas Capitol Tuesday as an estimated 1,000 people attended the state’s largest ever school choice rally.
Students and parents came from near and far, including Wichita, Hutchinson and Kansas City, to voice their support for Senate Bill 75, which would establish tax credit scholarships that can be used for private schools.
Small groups of supporters met individually with 50 lawmakers in advance of a hearing Tuesday on the bill. School choice supporters explained its benefits while detractors claimed it would pull funding from public schools and involve the government in religious schooling, even though the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of similar programs in other states.
The annual school choice rally has gained momentum, especially in recent years.
“Ten years ago I was out there with you all. We barely filled up the rotunda,” said Republican Rep. Susan Estes of Wichita. “I was a mom and an activist who said there has to be some things that make sense for families. Never in my dreams did I realize that 10 years later I would be a legislator and chair of the education committee.”

Although the measure could likely pass the Senate and House, where Republicans hold super majorities, gaining enough votes to overcome an expected veto from Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, is another challenge. Lawmakers from rural districts in particular have balked at approving school choice.
Still, Senate President Ty Masterson, who spoke at the rally on the Capitol’s southern steps, said state residents across the political spectrum support it.
“There is not an area in Kansas where this is not highly favored, but there’s just this fear, which now is getting proven to be wrong, that somehow giving a parent choice destroys public education,” he said. “Now (school choice) is happening all over the country, and that’s not true. It’s not destroying public education.”
Bishop Wade Moore, who has started two Urban Preparatory Academies in Wichita, said more than a dozen states have enacted school choice in the last few years, allowing families to customize their child’s education.
“With unencumbered choice policy sweeping the nation, there’s no turning back now,” Moore told the crowd. “Every child deserves a quality education that fits their unique gifts, talents and abilities and needs, regardless of their economic status or background.”
Dr. Kimberlee Gill, who helped organize the rally and lobbying effort, said she would keep battling regardless of what happens to this year’s bill.
“We have to continue fighting for our students, being a voice for our students and students that want to be ours and have nobody to be a voice for them,” said Gill, who is superintendent of Maranatha Christian Academy in Shawnee.
She was also impressed with the diversity at this year’s rally.
“You have all different kinds of schools, all different kinds of families and military personnel,” Gill said. “They’re interested in these bills because a lot of military families are transient. They don’t have their residence in the state but this could be a reason to promote residency.”