Dave Trabert

Dave Trabert is CEO of Kansas Policy Institute, where he also does research and writes on fiscal policy and education issues.

Public Education
Kansas school district’s student achievement deception is all too typical

(The Sentinel) – Frustrated with district officials’ refusal to acknowledge a student achievement crisis, a group of Rose Hill parents mailed a postcard to residents showing the tragic truth –… Read More

January 19, 2023
Opinion, Public Education
Kansas Department of Education takes ‘another lap on the grade inflation tour’

(The Sentinel) – The Kansas Department of Education conducted a fifty-city “Kansans Can Success Tour” in 2021 that felt like high school pep rallies, with the announcement of record-setting… Read More

January 17, 2023
Public Education
Kansas school official’s wife was paid $41,000 in overtime

(The Sentinel) – Last week, the Sentinel reported that Beth Schutte, a school nurse in USD 261 Haysville, was paid $126,000 last year. The district didn’t respond to our inquiries before… Read More

November 22, 2022
Public Education
Kansas school nurse married to district official made $126,000 last year

(The Sentinel) – A school nurse in USD 261 Haysville was the fifth-highest-paid employee in the district last year, paid over $126,000.  That is more than 50% above the… Read More

November 17, 2022
Public Education
2022 pay increases for some school administrators dwarf teacher pay in Kansas

(The Sentinel) – The average teacher pay increased by 4.3% (contracted base salary) in the 2022 school year, but some administrators received much larger increases. Wichita Superintendent Alicia Thompson got… Read More

October 24, 2022