If you want 20 years history go look it up yourself, or are you too lazy. You wouldn't accept it if somebody did it for you. You would still be trying to obsecure and/or ignore the facts. When Lawrence was winning championships, STA and SJA did not exist. And what did it matter, it was a big public school playing other big big public schools. The review of last year's history of state championships is highly relevant and indicative of the issue over a longer time. You refuse to address the facts/stats. You just want to bitch, get nasty about taxes, public education, or what ever else you can complain about. If your son/daughter went to a public school and played a field game (BB, BB, FB, soccer, VB) you would be the loudest screamer of 'unfair, foul etc. And how do you count 6A private school championships if there are no 6A private schools. Your ranting and raving makes no sense and probably hurts the private schools. Why don't you call KSHSAA and tell them SJA wants out of the association, they are going to take their marbles and play somewhere else. If you do, you can probably count you private school friends on five fingers--with your attitude do you even have five friends now?

AS for cycles, I quess we are now in a 15 year cycle of private school prowess in sports. Its that old cycle theory- business cycle, earth warming cycle, or maybe its just a Schwinn (bi)cycle.

Interesting article related to topic.

Church-state issue clouds schools' conversion
Posted 4/10/2010 3:47 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print



By Carly Everson, Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Gloria Guillen wanted to keep her youngest child in the Catholic school he's grown up attending as long as possible. But she knew that eventually the financial strain of private-school tuition would force her to move him into public schools, just as she'd done with his older siblings.
But a plan to convert two Catholic elementary schools into taxpayer-supported charter schools this fall means Guillen's son Ivan, a fifth-grader at St. Anthony School in Indianapolis, will get to stay in his school without paying parochial school tuition.

Charter school authorizers and management officials say the city's approval Monday of a plan to convert St. Anthony's and St. Andrew & St. Rita Academy into charter schools marks the first time in the country that an archdiocese will run public charter schools.

The move will qualify the schools for nearly $1 million in state funding in the first year.

But concerns about the archdiocese's ability to maintain a separation of church and state have already prompted a national watchdog group to write Mayor Greg Ballard's office with its concerns.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State said it is concerned about the archdiocese's willingness to end all school prayer and remove religious icons, as well as how teachers who remain with the schools will be trained so they understand the constitutional duties of public school teachers.

"We are certainly going to be watching the situation as closely as we can and making noise about it when we see things going on that should not be," said Leona E. Balek, president of the group's Indiana chapter.

Archdiocese spokesman Greg Otolski said the schools will end religious education classes during the school day and will remove or cover religious icons.

At St. Anthony, that means removing the crucifixes and statues of saints found in every classroom and office, along with the Bibles sitting on display tables in hallways and saint statues in stairwells.

The board will have to get creative at St. Andrew & St. Rita, where two large limestone crosses are part of the outside wall of the building, said Connie Zittnan, director of the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies, which currently runs the city's six urban Catholic schools.

MTCA will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of the charter schools, which are generally free of many of the curriculum, budget and other regulations imposed on traditional public schools. But it will do the bookkeeping offsite so that there is no confusion between the finances of the private and public schools, which require different levels of accountability to the government, Zittnan said.

The two schools will be renamed this summer by parents. Each will have spots for 24 students per grade level and will accept applications during a two-week open admission period, Zittnan said. A lottery will be held if applications exceed available spots.

Current teachers will have to reapply for their jobs, but Otolski anticipates many will return after the transition.

Archdiocese officials say they began looking for ways to keep the schools open more than a year ago because of a growing budget deficit.

The archdiocese has long subsidized the schools because low-income families couldn't afford full tuition. Principal Cindy Greer says the average family income is $14,000 a year at St. Anthony's, where cramped quarters mean an all-purpose room in the basement serves as art, music and physical education space, as well as the cafeteria. A tiny clinic and offices are partitioned from the rest of the room by tall cabinets.

About 98 percent of students at St. Anthony qualify for free or reduced lunch, Otolski said. Some families could afford only $300 of the approximately $7,000 it costs to educate a child at inner-city schools each year.

Greer said most families are relieved that they'll pay only book rental fees once the school converts to a charter.

Even so, Otolski said the decision to apply for charter status was "bittersweet."

Ballard, who approved the charters, said the move is an "innovative" way to keep schools open so they can fill the needs of families in the struggling areas surrounding the schools.

"A good neighborhood school is always a good thing to have," Ballard said. "These schools have been around for a while and obviously have trouble making ends meet, but they still provide a valuable service for these neighborhoods."

Karega Rausch, director of Indianapolis' charter schools, said Indianapolis' approach is unique because ADI Charter Schools, Inc., a nonprofit founded by the archdiocese, will continue to run the schools. Catholic church leaders in New York, and Washington, D.C., have converted parish schools into charter schools, but those were operated by secular organizations, he said.

Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of charter School Authorizers, said more parochial schools are considering converting to charters.

"This is certainly becoming a much more frequent topic of discussion than it used to be," Richmond said. "If you'd asked me this question three years ago, I'd have said that it's come up a couple times in the last fifteen years across the country."

Officials say they're confident the schools can successfully separate church and state from their daily operations.

The schools will use a secular adaptation of the state-approved character education curriculum already used in the city's urban Catholic schools, according to the charter application. All staff will be trained in curriculum changes, as well as changes that come as the school becomes public, Zittnan said.

"Certainly, we're going to paying particular attention to this school given the nature of it, to ensure that no religious activities occur, but we have high levels of accountability in the process that the mayor has created that we will implement in these schools as well," said Christine Marson, assistant director of the mayor's charter school office.

Guillen, who plans to enroll Ivan in the sixth grade at the renamed St. Anthony's charter this fall, said children will still learn Catholic values so long as their parents are involved at the school and keep their children active in the church.

Still, Richmond thinks the schools will have to walk a careful line as they learn the rules for admissions, expulsions and accountability for funds for public schools.

"This switch goes far beyond saying, 'Well, we're no longer going to say prayers,"' Richmond said. "There is a whole set of obligations that public schools have to students and to the public that private schools do not have.

"I think that's a greater challenge than saying you're going to take the religion out."

Ditto to Duane! You tell them! I don't know the stats, but if you compared the entire number of students in the entire state of KS vs the entire number students in the very small number of private or parochial schools in the state of KS, there would be a huge numbers difference. Why is it that with all the economical problems in the state and for that matter our country, would the KS governing body focus in on this one and relatively small issue?

I did not write it. Just reading what is going on with the economy.

Audit outlines K-12 consolidation

BY TIM CARPENTER AND BARBARA HOLLINGSWORTH
Created February 8, 2010 at 2:00pm
Updated February 9, 2010 at 1:29am
A Kansas state audit released Monday outlined options for consolidating K-12 public schools in response to assertions by legislators who believe money could be saved by streamlining the education system.
The report to a joint House-Senate committee is certain to create controversy among educators and in communities desperate to keep schools open despite dwindling enrollments.
"There are an infinite number of ways school districts can consolidate," said Dan Bryan, of the Legislative Division of Post Audit.
Auditors presented two scenarios for merging districts based on hypothetical standards of enrollment and geography that would undergo rigorous debate by lawmakers before placed into law.
Under scenario No. 1, districts would be merged if not offering all 12 grades and had at least 400 students or served an area of no more than 200 miles. Thirty-two Kansas districts failed to meet that criteria, but logical mergers with neighboring districts would reduce the statewide number from 293 to 266.
The potential cost savings would be about $18 million and would result in closure of 50 school buildings and reduction of 230 teachers and administrators.
Under the second scenario, the auditors examined what would result from attempts to consolidate any school district with less than 1,600 students. In all, the state has 239 districts below that benchmark. Implementation of this scheme would reduce the number of districts to 152.
The savings would be $138 million and would trigger closure of 304 schools and elimination of 1,532 teaching and administrative jobs.
Rep. Ann Mah, D-Topeka, questioned if more needs to be done to encourage the smallest districts to consolidate. Rather than just offering incentives, she said, some might need to face losing the extra funding they receive as low-enrollment districts. She said she understands the challenges in consolidating, but said students can suffer when schools have to drop programs because of low enrollment.
"They're holding onto their communities and they're holding onto their history and in a lot of cases the kids' education is suffering as a result," she said.
Work of the audit committee isn't binding on the Legislature, but the research is often used to shape reform legislation.
Auditors recommended the Legislature consider encouraging voluntary consolidation by limiting or eliminating a statute allowing districts to enter into contracts with other districts to share entire grades.
For example, the Montezuma and Copeland school districts have had a cooperative agreement since 1992. Montezuma runs the high school, Copeland operates the middle school and both districts have an elementary school. Although they have operationally merged into a larger district, they receive an extra $432,000 each year, or $1,300 per student, in special low-enrollment funding from the state. The districts would lose that money upon merger.
Auditors also recommended the Legislature consider options for strengthening incentives for districts to voluntarily consolidate. Potential incentives could include temporary reduction in mandatory property tax mill levies and offers of extra state funding to build or modify school buildings to accommodate mergers.
On that point, two consolidations are on the agenda of the next meeting of the Kansas Board of Education. The Lorraine and Claflin districts and the Pawnee Heights and Hanston districts are requesting permission from the state board to put merger proposals to a public vote. These consolidations would take place July 1, if voters agree.
These districts, under current law, could benefit financially from a merger. They would be allowed to keep the current level of state aid for several years, a relief to each at a time when the state is slashing appropriations.
Declining enrollment is the second factor pushing schools to consolidate, said Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards.
"It's really a combination of the two," he said.
After leading two Doniphan County school districts through consolidation, Rex Bollinger said it is an emotional process. The Doniphan West Unified School District 111 superintendent said it isn't a decision that should be made from Topeka.

Closer to the topic heading.

Comparison of Private and Public Schools
A Look at the Differences and Similarities
By Robert Kennedy, About.com Guide
It's a question which parents ask almost as much as "Which is the best school?" That question is "How do private and public schools compare?" Coupled with that question, parents also want to know more about the differences and similarities between private and public schools. Let's take a look.
What's Being Taught
Differences: Public schools must adhere to state standards regarding what can be taught and how it is presented. Certain subjects such as religion and sexual practices are taboo. Rulings in many court cases over the years have determined the scope and limits of what can be taught and how it is presented in public school.
By contrast a private school can teach whatever it likes and present it in any way it chooses. That's because parents choose to send their children to a specific school which has a program and educational philosophy with which they are comfortable.
Similarities: As a rule both public and private high schools require a certain number of credits in core subjects such as English, mathematics and science in order to graduate.
Admission Standards
Differences: Public schools must accept all students within their jurisdiction with few exceptions. Behavior is one of those exceptions, really bad behavior which must be well-documented over time.
A private school, on the other hand, accepts any student it wishes to according to its academic and other standards. It is not required to give a reason why it has refused to admit anyone. Its decision is final.
Similarities: Both private and public schools use some kind of testing and review transcripts to determine the grade level for new students.
Accountability
Differences: Public schools must comply with a host of federal, state and local laws and regulations including No Child Left Behind, Title I, etc. The number of regulations with which a public school must comply is vast. In addition public schools must also comply with all the state and local building, fire and safety codes just as the private schools must.
Private schools must observe federal, state and local laws such as annual reports to the IRS, maintenance of state-required attendance, curriculum and safety records and reports, compliance with local building, fire and sanitation codes.
Similarities: There is plenty of regulation, inspection and review of the operations of both private and public schools.
Accreditation
Similarities: Accreditation is generally required for public schools in most states. While accreditation for private schools is optional, most college prep schools seek and maintain accreditation from the major accrediting organizations. The process of peer review is a good thing for both private and public schools.
Graduation Rates
Differences: The rate of public school students entering college after graduation has fluctuated between 62-67% in recent years. A variety of factors come into play which result in that relatively low matriculation rate. The drop out rate in public schools tends to have a negative effect on matriculation data.
In private schools the matriculation rate is typically in the 90-95% range. Minority students who attend a private high school are more likely to attend college than minority students who attend public school according to NCES data. The reason why most private high schools do well in this area is that they are generally selective. They will only accept students who can do the work.
Cost
Differences: Funding differs greatly between private and public schools. Public schools are not allowed to charge any tuition fees in most jurisdictions at the elementary level. You will encounter modest fees in high schools. Public schools are funded largely by local property taxes, though many districts also receive funding from state and federal sources.
Private schools charge for every aspect of their programs. Fees are determined by market forces. Private school tuition averages about $6,600 per student according to 2007 NCES data. Private schools take no public funding. As a result they must operate with balanced budgets.
Discipline
Differences: Discipline is handled differently in private schools vs pubic schools. Discipline in public schools is somewhat complicated because students are governed by due process and constitutional rights. This has the practical effect of making it difficult to discipline students for minor and major infractions of the school's code of conduct.
Private school students are governed by the contract which they and their parents sign with the school. It clearly spells out consequences for what the school considers unacceptable behavior.
Safety
Differences: Violence in public schools is a top priority for administrators and teachers. The highly-publicized shootings and other acts of violence which have taken place in public schools have resulted in the application of stringent rules and security measures such as metal detectors to help create and maintain a safe learning environment.
Private schools are generally safe places. Access to campuses and buildings is carefully monitored and controlled. Because schools usually have fewer students than a public school, it is easier to supervise the school population.
Similarities: Both private and public school administrators have your child's safety on top of their list of priorities.
Teacher Certification
Differences: There are some slight differences between private and public schools. For example, public school teachers must be certified by the state in which they are teaching. Certification is granted once statutory requirements such as education courses and teaching practice are met. The certificate is valid for a set number of years and must be renewed.
In most states private school teachers can teach without a teaching certificate. Most private schools prefer teachers to become certified as a condition of employment. Private schools tend to hire teachers with a bachelor's or masters degree in their subject.

Duane: I'll give 100 to 1 odds this punk won't be calling to give names ect. Thanks for calling him out on it though.

i just sent duane a pm with names and the stories i know. like i said, i don't know how much it happens, but i believe it does.

believe what you want, truth is kapaun and miege were sanctioned for it in the 80's, so it happens.

no need for the apology, i've been told worse before. believe what you want.

Too lazy. That is so laughable! STA was St. Josephs. I do believe they existed back then. My point was that they had an enormous enrollment but no one called for KSHSAA to downsize them or kick them out. Lawrence High that is. Honestly, I could care less from a sports perspective what they decide. I am just not happy about my tax dollars being wasted without adequate representation. You should carry on being a legend in your own mind.

It is not the Kansas State Goverment focusing on anything. it is a number of the member schools of the KSHSAA who have raised the issue of private school athletic successes. Get smart about the issue before you make a comment!!

agreed here, i don't think it matter's just stating my point of view, about the "recritment" of student/athletes. honestly it makes NO DIFFERENCE TO ME. tax dollars/ wins/losses or other wise.

I have some vague familiarity with catholic schools in the Wichita and/or Sedgwick county area (with none elsewhere), having observed them periodically compete in a variety of athletic events, over several decades, within the Wichita City League.

As well, I am a product of a catholic education (grade school/ middle school and high school - all boys high school)in the city of Wichita. For reasons unique and personal to my family, my sons did not attend catholic schools.

I have long took note of the fact that our local catholic high schools (i.e. Bishop Carroll and Kapaun/Mt Carmel, in the main, could/would compete favorably with our local public schools - and we've had some steller public high school teams, in every sports endeavor.

For instance, in football, I would ordinarily casually glance at each sideline and utter comments that B.C./Kapaun had virtually no chance, as the sheer size and numbers tended to favor the public schools. As well, often (or occasionally) the public school would have steller, D-1 prospects on their teams.

As often as not, the catholic schools would do remarkedly well.

Invariably, I was impressed with the degree of coaching, the collective intelligence and/or discipline and the obvious toughness of the parochial school teams, and the fact that this intangible called "team chemistry" tended to decidedly favor the parochial school. Now, by "team chemistry", I refer to a perceived attitude of "one for all/all for one"...everyone rooting for each other.

As often than not, I did not ordinarily observe the same attitude in he public school teams; of course when things were going good and they were winning, things were upbeat and positive, but at the first sign of adversity, I sensed a palpable change in the collective attitude of the public school teams - a willingness, if you will, to place blame, point fingers, and criticize. This was often reflected by the "star" athletes distancing themselves from their coaches and teammates, and paying little attention to the game. Reduced to it's essence, the perceived attitude was: "what are you doing - why did you do that; instead of: what do we got to do to get this thing righted.

Although I have no facts to support my contentions, I'd nonetheless hazzard a guess that the parochial school rosters were substantially populated by students who were a product of parochial schools - not illegally recruited athletes. (now, I could be wrong, as I have no personal/inside information - but I am aware that the "studs" on most of these rosters, were largely products of a catholic elementary education!

Now, I don't pretend to have "Pollyanna" tatood on my forehead,and I labor under no delusion that the possibility exists that recruiting (of steller athletes) does, in fact, exist. But, I choose to believe that this has not made a significant difference in the ultimate outcome of these athletic contests throughout the years - at least in the Wichita City League.

In the Wichita area, we now have several other private schools which are competing for athletes (i.e. Wichita Collegiate, Wichita Independence, and Wichita Trinity) (if I've omitted some one, please forgive me)

Of course the overwhelming athletic success of Wichita Collegiate invites alot of suspiscion: How or why did the likes of DeAngelo Evans, Maurce Evans, Chris Harper - for a brief interlude, anyway (each extra-ordinary athletics, and several others) just happen to man (or woman) their athletic rosters?

I happen to think that this is a fair question - one that hints at the very essence of what this thread is about!

There may well be a perfectly satisfactory answer - but I'd hazzard a guess that Colegiate's athletic competitors would be hard-pressed to accept the notion that the admission was a product of any high-minded ideal, to solicit a deserving,minority student to avail himself of the scholastic opportunities and/or rigors associated with their school. I could be wrong. Of course, I've never heard the schools response.

In the final analysis, when an inner city student, a steller athlete, is selected to attend your private school, with no prior history of association with your school, don't act all too surprised when your public school,athletic competitors, feel that you are taking unfair advantage of them, and gaining a very unfair, unethical, athletic leg up... It's how the athletic world turns, in my humble opinion.

Mr. Moeder (whose son attends St. James Academy) comments that his experience with entrance criteria at St. James Academy would refute this notion, and I certainly would not (and emphatically, do not, question his sincerity, nor integrity (I simply take him at his word!); but then we have the comments of other Posters who claim to have been induced to attend private schools for their obvious athletic prowress - where rules were bent.

I find this controversy quite interesting, and have debated it within my circle of friends for decades. I still do not know the answer, nor who is right.

"About 98 percent of students at St. Anthony qualify for free or reduced lunch, Otolski said. Some families could afford only $300 of the approximately $7,000 it costs to educate a child at inner-city schools each year."

Interesting article, but the part that blew me away was the above statement: Funny that it takes $12-13,000 per student at USD 259-Wichita schools. Can you say TOP HEAVY?

I got one word for you anti private school people:

JEALOUSY

This is coming from someone that did not attend private schools, and neither do my children.

Cokely, go un-elect your school board. Don't just talk about bad thing, do something about it other than wringing your hands and gnashing your teeth. Circulate a flyer, hold a public meeting, start a petition. I doubt the DeSoto school board and administrators read this forum.

And as I told Doug 749--there is a Tea Party tonight at Community America Ball Park in KCKS.

And to follow up on a point made several times, but ignored by some, if there were to be coaching changes at our school, I would very much consider following that coach/coaches, or consider sending my kids to a private school that had coaches that were more appealing to the way I think a coach should operate his program. Kids and parents are recruited every day by the actions and success of a coaching staff, or the actions and success of a school's academics. And why is it ok for someone that lives in the wichita school district to choose which one of the 6 or 7 High Schools, he or she wants to attend? Using your theory, each of these high schools should have boundaries to draw from. Are KC school districts the same?

I saw a very refreshing sign last night, which bodes well for the public school that my kids attend: The teacher that was working the gate at the softball game was reading a book by Glenn Beck. I will give her a copy of the Fair Tax Book by Neal Boortz next time I see her.

Taxes, taxes, taxes. If everyone in this or any other so called developed country got to chose only what they wanted their tax $$$s spent for, this would be a very austre country and world. I would probaly start looking for a country with a few more amenities: the Congo, Nambia, Uzbeckstan, El Salvador, somewhere along that line. If you don't like paying taxes, remember the Viet Nam era saying: America, love it or leave it. You can always go to any of a number of Central and South American predominant Catholic Countries. Probably will not have any high school sports though. Do they even have high schools?

The people proposing the KSHSAA split/proposals do read these forums. As a matter of fact I received an e-mail back from one of the proposers that said he was done discussing this topic with me and it was his final e-mail response to my questions about some "survey" that had no data. The survey that was not done by KSHSAA. I asked Joanna Chadwick from the Wichita Eagle for a copy of the "survey" - no survey. I asked a couple of people in the article below for a copy of the survey and who conducted the survey and what were the questions asked in the survey - still no survey or report or results. The only results were one sided pieces of data that were hand picked to make the proposal meet the needs of the proposers. I did get a copy of the report the KSHSAA did. You can read that report off of the KSHSAA web site - That report appeared on the web site shortly after this discussion began on the USA Wrestling web site and right after they mailed me a hard copy that I requested.

Private school teams may face tougher competition

BY JOANNA CHADWICK
The Wichita Eagle
A survey of Kansas high school administrators by the state's governing body for high school sports found that many think private schools have an unfair advantage over public schools.

So the Kansas State High School Activities Association's board of directors will consider two proposals next month that would either make private schools compete by themselves in postseason play or make them compete at a higher enrollment level.

No immediate changes are likely, but proponents of the changes say the discussion is important. Either change would radically alter the structure of the KSHSAA's current classification system.

"This would be one of the most significant deviations from the way we've done business in the past," said Bill Faflick, athletic director for the City League, which is the city's seven public high schools that have athletics plus parochial schools Bishop Carroll and Kapaun Mount Carmel.

Of the two proposals, the one seemingly more popular would move private schools up one classification. Carroll, with 819 students in grades 10-12 this year, and Kapaun, with 667, would move from Class 5A to 6A, where the smallest school this year has 1,066 students.

A private school such as Wichita Trinity Academy, a small Class 4A school, would move up to 5A.

"We have only about 300 students, and now we're competing against schools that have 900?" said Trinity headmaster/principal Matt Brewer. "We can't play football against Hutchinson. We'd be putting kids at risk."

Clay Center principal Mike Adams, a board of directors member who helped draft the proposal, said it would equalize schools, especially because private schools aren't limited to the same boundaries as public schools.

"We have to take the kids that walk through our doors," Adams said.

In Classes 4A, 3A and 2A, the public schools are rural while the private schools come from urban areas. Trinity is part of the Central Plains League with the Independent School and eight rural schools.

The second proposal is more dramatic with seemingly less chance of passing. It puts the state's 26 private schools into their own playoff structure in all sports. It also divides Class 4A into two divisions, essentially creating 11 postseason classes for football and eight for all other sports.

States such as Texas and Tennessee have separate public and private state championships, but each has around 300 private schools.

"I think it would be unfair to put the 26 schools together and have us supposedly play Berean Academy," Carroll president Tish Nielsen said. Berean Academy, in Elbing, is a 2A school with 103 students in its three upper grades.

But many public schools don't think it's fair to compete against private schools.

"I think it's become more of an issue in the past 10 years," said Campus principal Myron Regier, who is on the KSHSAA board of directors.

Possible explanations include increased emphasis on high school athletics, earning college scholarships and winning state championships.

Private schools, which make up 7 percent of the association's member schools, are successful at tournament time. In the current school year, Wichita Collegiate has won Class 3A titles in football, volleyball, girls tennis and boys basketball.

At the Class 5A girls basketball tournament, three of the final four teams were private schools, and the boys 5A title was won by Bishop Miege, in Roeland Park.

Private schools counter that plenty of public schools have similar traditions — Heights became the first school in the state's largest classification to play for a title in football and boys and girls basketball, and Hutchinson has won six straight football titles.

"Of everything completed so far (this school year), privates have won almost 32 percent of all championships, and many public schools feel that private schools have an advantage," Clay Center's Adams said.

2006 comparison

In 2006, the KSHSAA created a committee that studied the private-public issue. The main finding was that private schools "earn a disproportionate percentage of postseason final eight, final four and championship game opportunities when compared to public schools."

"A lot of people thought we stopped short —'You need to go ahead and do something about it,' " KSHSAA executive director Gary Musselman said.

Yet the focus on state championships concerns some.

"If that's how programs are being evaluated, they're missing the mark," Faflick said. "(Sports is) for connecting kids to school, teaching life lessons, teaching teamwork, discipline. All are evident if they win or lose at the end of the year."

Gardner-Edgerton principal Tim Brady, part of the proposal to split private schools from championships, is frustrated watching private schools dominate. He links that dominance to recruiting.

Allegations of recruiting and private schools giving athletic scholarships to entice top athletes often crop up. But Musselman said he has found no evidence of recruiting in his 22 years on the job.

Carroll's Nielsen is distressed at the questions of recruiting.

"I don't want them to question our integrity," she said. "I want them to know we're following the rules and guidelines."

Long road to change

It is doubtful that April's board of directors meeting will be more than a discussion. If the board of directors votes to agree to either of the proposals — or comes up with its own proposal — there are still hurdles.

A majority of the board would have to vote to put it on the agenda for its next meeting, in September, and a majority of all schools in all classes must approve it.

Discussion is fine with DeSoto principal David Morford, who was part of the proposal for splitting public and private championships.

"It's getting talked about. That's our goal,'' he said.

"We don't necessarily have the right answer, but we want to have the dialogue with everybody to have a solution that's workable to everybody."

http://www.kansas.com/2010/03/26/1242039/private-school-teams-may-face.html
_________________________
Shhhhhhh I'm in "hidding"!

I think it would be an interesting case study to find out why parents are willing to spend the thousands of extra dollars every year to send their children to a private school. I don't know the percentages, but I bet only 20-25% of the private school students participate in sports. As a rhetorical question, why would they spend all that money just for the same education they can get at a public school? It's not just the extra religion class. Every church offers Sunday school and religious training for all children for far less than the cost of attending the catholic grade and high schools. I believe there is an intangible "more" they seek.

As far as recruiting for sports, I think the sports recruit for themselves by being great. Parents of athletes of all abilities may be trying to get the best coaching for their kids. Don't you think there may be some parents that are sending their kids to Goddard and Derby to wrestle instead of the private schools? How about Hutch in football? I'm sure the private schools would love to have some of those kids.

Another rhetorical question. In the 70's through mid 80's how many great football players from Kansas accepted "walk on" status and being an "average" player at Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas instead of taking a scholarship to KU or K-State and being the star? Why would they pay to go to those other schools when they could have gone locally for free? Maybe they felt that to reach their full potential and excel, they needed to be in the best programs and coached by the best coaches. When KU and K-State got those coaches, they kept a lot more local talent.

I can't blame a parent for wanting what they feel is best for their children, whether that is going to private school or forgoing private school to attend a great public school. I really doubt that the private school goes out to recruit athletes, but if a parent makes an inquiry, I'm sure the school tells them what they have to offer.

I would be curious to know how many students at the private schools get some financial aid that don't play sports at all. My bet is there are far more non-athletes than athletes getting aid.

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is also powerful enough to take everything you have.

Apparently you see no problem with the way out government spends OUR tax dollars. Which of course speaks volumes about your lack of a sense of reality.

EVERYONE hates paying taxes, it's just that: 1- the burden falls on too few of us and 2- the people that pay them do not like the way they are spent, which is typically using our tax money to pay for programs that will buy the politicians votes. And this goes for Republicans and Democrats.......