Thread by @keithmdavenport

This is a long 🧵 on open enrollment in Kansas. I think it’s important that we all know what’s on the table here. Most Kansans I have spoken with have no idea that their legislatures added this ti the school funding bill. #ksleg #ksed

#ksleg passed a bill that will give us open enrollment in public schools starting in 2024. At first, this sounds like a great idea: parents can choose any school in the state that they think is best for their kids (assuming they have the jobs & home-life that make it work).

Each school district will have to establish their maximum capacity each year and will be required to take any student (with few exceptions) in the state who wants to come until they hit maximum capacity. This sounds like a win for families, until you dig a little deeper.

For USD 231, any family from a smaller community near us could decide that our district has better services for their kids. So, they can decide to have their children enroll here. This makes sense, because it’s natural for parents to try to find the best fit for their children.

These students will come to USD 231, but won’t be bringing their local tax dollars with them. And, until their 2nd year, won’t be bringing any money from the state either. Here’s the key point: Our school district will have to fund their education with our property tax dollars.

This is thousands of dollars per student per year, maybe even tens of thousands depending on what services that student needs.

On the flip side: The kids down the road from you that your kids love hanging out with; they might decide to go to school in Olathe. So, your kids won’t see them at school anymore.

Essentially, across the state we will have some school districts at maximum capacity but without enough funding and other school districts will have funding, but not enough students. This isn’t sustainable.

Eventually some schools will completely close and the whole public school system breaks. I’m not exaggerating here. There is no plan B for education in Kansas. When we start losing schools, we’ll start losing jobs, too.

This morning I went to my 6yo’s t-ball game. All of his friends from his class are on the team and he loves it. It’s an awesome community experience,too, getting to cheer on all the kids with the same families from school. But, once open enrollment begins, that could go away.

Why? Because my son’s best friends from class might be from Wellsville, Eudora or Spring Hill and won’t be eligible for Gardner Parks & Rec sports. We lose just a bit of community here.

It gets worse though: our local voice is weakened. First, the state has already usurped school district authority by passing the bill to begin with; school districts don’t have a choice to participate.

Regardless of their local budget, they will be required to fund education for any student who comes from another community.

Second, if you send your child to another school district, you have no influence over their school board because you don’t get a vote.

Third, if your kids are in another school district you may be a bit less vested in the success of our school board, so you may not even vote at all.

It’s even messier though. Right now, many school districts begin projecting staffing needs 6-9 months before the start of each school year. They establish their budget, plan class sizes, move rooms, and order supplies.

Now, because of this bill, they will have to do all of this work in 5 weeks because open enrollment ends on June 30.

This is likely the biggest shift in public schools in Kansas in decades. It’s also likely that most people in our community didn’t even know about it.

This new policy has already been signed into law, but doesn’t go into effect until 2024. The only way to stop this policy that will destroy our school system is to elect state representatives this November who will undo this policy before it begins.

We need a state representative who actually stands up for our public schools, who votes for our common good, and who communicates significant legislation to our community. This is why I am running.

If you want the Facebook version of this to share, find it here: Facebook.com/KeithForKansas