Ron;
Hard to compare Manhatten to KCK school district. We have five big high schools here in one district and god only knows how many primary and middle schools. We are stretched so thin that we can barely maintain the pitiful buildings we have. A five or six million dollar cut will be devastating. There isnt too much to be had in trying to affix some type of blame at the local level. The kind of cuts they are talking about take us way past the point of being able to cut corners to make it up. They are talking here about closing high schools and cutting everything but the bare essentials to keep the doors open.

by the way is that Ron i see here a Tacha? If it is I ain't mouthin off at you )). I don't mean to denigrate the problems they are having in Manhatten and God knows I don't stand up for too many school boards or administrators in my life, but yesterday the legislators had a ten minute forum on a $500 a kid cut. Now that would be deadly to anyone no matter where they are from. Hey wrestlingfan whoever you are, you just keep up that humor boy that is what you are good at. The sky is falling, ha you are a raucus funster arent you.

Randy, after reading your first post on this subject, I did meet with some of our legislators. I can tell you from these meetings, they are getting pressure from this area of the state not to raise taxes. Both people ask me if I knew and understood the budget in our district. I had to admit, I really didn't know much about it. They asked me questions such as "if the budget is 10 million more than it was ten yrs ago but we have less students, don't you think we have funded enough money for education?" They also asked me what % of our local budget was adminstation salaries, how many adminstrators did I think it takes to run a school district the size of Manhattan? Randy, I was not able to answer the questions they were asking. Both legislators tell me they believe school districts have wasted big dollars and it is time to make them accountable. I do know more about our budget now, but I'm not sure I understand how everything works. It isn't like looking at a financial report from a business. (An example is special ed funding and all the mandates that go with it.)
I'm willing to keep working on this but I need to be better informed before I go back. I'm the last guy that wants to see athletics and activities cut from our schools. If you understand the budgeting process and can help me I would appreciate it. I will see one of our legislators on Sunday. By the way, I am RT.

RT;
Hey man. Nice to see you here. Next time you meet with those slippery devils ask them what they were getting paid ten years ago and why they have given themselves pay raises at 15% over the cost of living four of the last five years. They can double talk all they want about waste in school districts. There is no way anyone who does not work deeply in a school district can possibly answer all those questions. I would pose a question to them, however they don't want to answer it. How are school districts supposed to implement the myriad of new requirements imposed on them by the Kansas Legislators if they are going to cut the funding out from under them. Hey I agree with them on one thing, they could get rid of 75 percent of all the administrators and nobody would miss them. If we did that here it would save us about a million bucks. If they pass their little surprise we will only be short four million instead of five. They are providing smoke for the smoke screen. Sort of like that shell game they play on a street corner. Have them tell you exactly where the waste is. They have no better idea than you do, you are just more honest than they are. Way more honest.

Ronnie; By the way the they voted down the three hundred bucks a head cut on Friday which is good news but there are other equally bad proposals they are worried about now. I talked to a special ed person on Friday and she said if they cut us way back they will lose nearly our entire special ed work force. Those kids need what they have now. What in the world would we do for them if they cut it back that far. Ask that political fella what exactly his plan is for those kids. One thing I know for sure administrators dont do away with administrators, they do away with school teachers, coaches, and programs. Some of them have been itchin to do that for years. Put a head lock on one of those guys. I know you know how to do that, .