Kansas lawmakers make second effort for school choice

Lawmakers in the Kansas Senate are working on a plan to revive a school choice plan under a new effort which would also increase public school funding in the state.

A previous version of the school choice plan failed in the Senate after passing the Kansas House. The new version, which places more limits on student eligibility, has been worked into House Bill 2089, the Hays Post reports.

The revised program would now be limited to families who earn up to 250% of the federal poverty level, or whose public school closes or who are already in the program. It’s also limited to students in the 10 most populous counties in the state to avoid opponents who claim the program would unduly burden rural counties.

Also under the new proposal rural counties are able to opt out. The the more populous counties would only be allowed to opt out if they met certain benchmarks in student performance that showed students were college-ready.

Renewed interest in the plan was sparked by lawmaker concerns about lobbyists on the left they say are lying about funding schools, according to the Hays Post.

These lobbyists have reportedly claimed school choice proponents are trying to strip hundreds of millions of dollars away from public education through bill language that was removed about how inflation is calculated for the education budget.

“It is my recommendation that we put that language back in so that we can’t scream fire anymore,” said Sen. Molly Baumgardner, R-Olathe, according to the Hays Post. “We can’t promote this false narrative that the legislators are going to screw the school districts and take money from them. No money has been taken.”

Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, previously told reporters that his caucus in the state Senate supported school choice but the Democrats are standing in the way.

“The Republican caucus wants school choice and the Democrat segment of ours don’t,” Masterson said, according to the Topeka Capital Journal. “And under a Democratic governor it is hard to get supermajorities in anything really. So, you try again.”

But even if the plan passes in the Senate, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly would likely veto the legislation.

Critics have claimed the school choice program for low income and rural students would fail to offer enough money to cover private tuition. But one state Senator said that providing students in failing schools with the opportunity to choose a better way is important.

“We hear a lot about choice when it comes to abortion, and that’s a life,” said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, according to the Kansas Reflector. “But we don’t want to allow a living, breathing child that is in a failing school to have a choice.”