Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
Kansas lawmakers in recent years have passed legislation that allows for open enrollment in public schools, as well as pushed measures that would expand a system of tax credits for families who send their children to private schools. Supporters of such moves say they give more freedom to families in making decisions about their child’s education. Opponents see them as threats that place new and unfair burdens on public schools. Where do you stand on such measures? Do you support moves like open enrollment and school vouchers? Why or why not?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on the issue:
District 10
Mike Thompson (Republican, incumbent)
In the five years I’ve been in Topeka, K-12 education was fully funded each year and signed into law by Governor Kelly, who has been celebrating that success in press releases and public statements. Our work ended the cloud of litigation that dominated the last decade, as the Kansas Supreme Court completely released the Gannon case, which was the school finance lawsuit.
More recently, we devoted record dollars to special education and improved the funding formula to ensure our Johnson County tax dollars remain in Johnson County schools to support our districts with growing enrollment. Meanwhile, we’ve adopted common-sense ideas to provide parents more flexibility, to ensure each student receives the best education possible. The bi-partisan work on these efforts has been encouraging!
Obviously we want to ensure our Kansas students get the best education possible and we’ll continue to look for accountability in our school districts, and encourage a student-based outcome approach to improving test scores and achievement
Andrew Mall (Democratic)
As a Realtor, I have the opportunity to talk with people every day about the reasons for putting down roots in our community and the top reason I hear time and time again is our strong public schools. And as a Shawnee Mission West graduate and the father of a Shawnee Mission student, I know our schools are the backbone to our thriving communities.
Open enrollment schools bring uncertainty to the housing market and are just one step closer to a voucher/tax credit schools system which would devastate our public schools and the communities surrounding them. I understand parents send their children to private schools for a variety of reasons, and I support their ability to make that choice. But ultimately, I believe that public tax dollars should fund public education options that are open to all Kansas students.
