Hays Post
LA CROSSE — The compromise school funding bill now on desk of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has school professionals worried, one northwest Kansas administrator said Monday.
In addition serving as Superintendent at La Crosse USD 395, Bill Keeley is the elementary school principal.
The Fort Hays State University graduate said he had closely followed the process in Topeka, a process that results in a compromise bill being passed Sunday.
“I’m not talking about just our district. This is about all kids and teachers in Kansas. I really would rather we had a clean bill without all the far-right policies,” Keeley said. “These policies have been stuck in committee for a couple of years and haven’t moved because they aren’t good policy and most of us in education don’t support them.”
Keeley, whose wife is the principal at La Crosse High School, said he felt the Legislature was being opportunistic by throwing in bad policies.
Both state representatives whose districts make up the La Crosse district — Don Hineman, R-Dighton, and John Ewy, R-Jetmore — opposed the bill.
“While our representatives … were great at communicating with us through the process, the perception is that teachers feel like they are under attack and are being targeted,” Keeley said. “I think the Legislature was desperate to get their work finished. And who know what they might do next year?
“A lot of this radical policy is a camouflage of doing what is best for kids,” he added. “They need to call us who work in education. We will tell them what’s best for the kids.”
Check Hays Post for more reaction to the school funding compromise.