Showing posts with label Kansas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas. Show all posts
Friday, May 02, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Friday, January 31, 2014
Kansas Senator's bill prevents federal government from bribing states to adopt Common Core Standards
In a portion of his latest newsletter, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, presented a plan to stop the federal government from using bribery to get states to adopt Common Core Standards.
I introduced a bill to preserve state education autonomy by prohibiting the federal government from coercing states to adopt education standards like Common Core. Setting high standards for our schools, our teachers and our children is the right thing to do, but those standards should be decided in Kansas, without bribes or mandates from Washington. We need to get the federal government out of the classroom, and return community decisions back to where they belong - in the community.
Designed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers in 2007, Common Core was an effort to raise math and reading standards for students across the country. States could adopt Common Core voluntarily.
In defiance of federal law, the Obama Administration began coercing states to implement Common Core. They required states to adopt Common Core standards to receive federal funding under the Obama administration's multibillion-dollar Race to the Top (RTT) program and used federal funds to develop Common Core-aligned tests.
My legislation, the Learning Opportunities Created At the Local (LOCAL) Level Act would strictly forbid the federal government from intervening in a state’s education standards, curricula, and assessments through the use of incentives, mandates, grants, waivers or any other form of manipulation.
Unfortunately, it is evident that certain waivers from onerous education requirements have been granted only to those states that agree to implement the White House’s preferred education policies. In fact, The New York Times has referred to the waiver process as “the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in the 1960s.” My bill ensures States retain their authority to determine the curriculum and standards that are best for their students.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tim Jones: Sam Brownback and I are ending the Missouri/Kansas border war
Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones today filed legislation with the goal of instituting a cease fire in the ongoing economic border war between Missouri and Kansas. Jones said it is time to end the war of escalating incentives that have been utilized to poach jobs across the state line.
“Both Kansas and Missouri have offered incentives worth millions of dollars to move jobs from one side of the state line to the other. This has been a back-and-forth battle that has resulted in a net loss for both states,” said Jones, R-Eureka. “While our own governor has remained complacent on the sidelines, I have worked with Governor Brownback to resolve this issue. What we have now is a reasonable solution that will end the border war and provide some stability to the families and employers of the Kansas City region.”
The Speaker’s legislation, HB 1646, would prohibit either state from offering incentives to entice employers to relocate across the border. The bill would apply to the eight counties that make up the Kansas City metro area - Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass in Missouri; Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas, and Miami in Kansas. Furthermore, the legislation is contingent upon the director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development certifying that Kansas has passed similar legislation or issued an executive order with a similar prohibition on incentives.
The bill also stipulates that Missouri may begin offering incentives for businesses to relocate if Kansas violates the prohibition by offering similar incentives.
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