I have only 1 question.... Why are the polititions just now making cuts? why couldnt' they have done it when the first were elected to the house?

it has nothing to do with the poloticians. it isn't like they want to go out and make decisions that are going to be unpopular. it is more to do with the state of the entire united states economy right now.

if you haven't been aware, every state institution of higher learning nationwide is hiking thier tuitions right now. there is just less money to be giving out. when the money starts to go, so do the programs which are of less interest to the overall welfare of the state. and as much as all of us here would like to think that sports (especially wrestling) shouldn't be cut, there are many more people who do not share similar interests as us.

either way, some things have to go. politicianse aren't putting targets on athletes, they are just going to be cutting the amount of money they are going to be giving to your school district. it is your district that is trying to come up with ways to be able to fund education programs with the shortage of money that they are getting. with that, you have to understand that what happens in the classroom is more important than what is happening athletically. until our economy becomes stable once again, you are just going to have to deal with the potential for cuts in certain programs.

but overall, as a nation we have become spoiled by our education system into thinking that everything that we have is a god given right. not so. we should be thankful that there are even athletic programs in our schools to begin with.

for anyone that cares, i type too fast and there is no spell check here to make me look smarter. sorry for all the horrible spelling problems... bah.

This is a tough one. My dad told me when i was young, If you talk politics or religion you'll never be right. When we let the government run things it always turns out to be very ineffcient. when we voted on the lottery a few years back it was to be the saviour of the school system. Now we have someone makeing a 6 digit salery and the schools get the crums. How about the Kshsaa we have a guy with a 6 digit salery he has probably 5 or 6 assistants that make 6 digits they all have 1 or 2 secratarys that make 5 digits. All to hand out $500.00 worth of trophys a year.

Just a follow up on my previous post. When the buget cuts come the first thing they will cut is the sports. So now we have no sports. But we will still have the kshsaa to over see them????????????

It is simple politics, make no mistake about it. Many politicians feel it would be very unpopular to have to restore the tax cuts that have been made in education since 1992. In 1992 the local tax levy statewide for education which went to Topeka and then came back was 35 mills. Now it is 20 mills. I too like lower taxes and vote for them when possible and prudent. Many politicians believe it would cost them votes if they voted to meet the short fall by higher taxes. What all of us should let them know is that given the choice of a "little" more tax for "education" or shitting on school kids, we will pay the tax.

Hey Nigel,

I wish that LOB would have passed in Chapman, now they have to look at cutting some programs, big talk on letting more teachers go, dropping music programs, wrestling may end up being scrapped as well, but only time will tell.

Once again let me clarify. I said that This issue doesn't really affect me becuase I am no longer in High School. I am fortuntate enough to know how our school district works, and I know that when/if cuts are to be made I believe wrestling will be one of the last to go becuase of the success of our program, thanks to Mr. Christner's hard work. Furthermore, on the pay-to-play issue. I certainly don't come from a rich family but my parents made a decent living, I would say we were an average income family. But I sill had a job 3 years of high school. The problem is that everyone thinks that they "deserve" things. If you think that you "derserve" to play sports for free you are quite wrong, surly Mr. Westfahl you must agree that playing sports for free in high school is a privlage? And if a school district can't afford to let people play for free then they have to pay, Personally I think kids should get the opportunity to play sports for free but sometimes it is just not cost effective. My advice to everyone who is faced with this situation is to "bite the bullet" for now get a small part time job (rake leaves, mow lawns, whatever...) make your $50 and be happy that your school even still offers sports. And one more point that hovers above all else and this is what my mother always told me "You are not in school to play sports, you are there to learn"

You are right you are in school to learn,however sports taught my kids things they never could of learned in the classroom,and today they are better individuals because of the sports,it affects them in all areas of their lives that they did not even comprehend at the time.To have to pay for sports would leave in alot of areas alot of kids not participating quite simply because their families could not afford it.At least where My kids went to school at we the parents still had to pay for alot of things,shoes,warm up gear,not to mention raising money for team meals etc...we still had to put out some money to let them play.Some rurual areas have a hard time with numbers for their sports anyway,to make the kids pay to play would surely result in a loss of competition for them.Education should be at the top of the list in Kansas and should be the last thing our congressman should consider cutting.

This is the first time I have heard anything about this but apparently everyone else has and it honestly is concerning me. I am a high school student and am very much invovled in all sports and honesltly I don't know what I would do with all my time if i wasn't always at practice, I can honestly say sports is a huge part of the reason I am who I am today, it has given me a reason to keep my grades up and strive to succede in school, and I don't think they should have the right to take that away from anyone, sports idenifies me and my school work, and cutting all sports from the program is sure not going to improve the education system, because I know many kids that use the sport they love as a motivator. I will be sure to have my voice heard if this cut goes through along with all my sport friends..Thanks to everyone for making this known and please contact me if anymore goes down

Nigel I must not be able to covey to you what is happening and I don't want the crux of this issue to be avoided here and diverted into a pay for play dispute. Pay for Play is not going to be on the table if this issue goes thru. Our budget cuts up here, if the legislators get their way could amount to from 3 to 5 million dollars. Wichita will be in the same boat here as will Shawnee Mission and many of the rest of the large districts. Pay for Play is not on the table here. They will have to cut whole high schools if this thing floats. We arent talking about a shortfall that 50 or sixty bucks a wrestler could even begin to affect. Athletics, facilities, staffing, all will dissapear. I know it is popular to argue points here but I hope this "entertainment" does not cloud the potential problems a funding shortfall of this magnitude poses. There will simply be no programs to pay to play in. They are debating it today in Topeka.

How about this: tonight I asked my instructor if budget cuts at the state level could eliminate extra curricurlar activities next year. His reply. YES! Not maybe but YES! After school activities at most large school districts is about 2-3% of the total budget. He said his district, which is a large one, will face closing it's doors in the next three years if things stay the way they are right now. He got a call from a House member today. The State House member wanted to know if ticket sales from athletic events completely funded the athletic department. Of course the answer is no. It is not hard to find statistics that show students involved in after school activities are much more likely to be successful after high school than those who are not involved in such activities. There are 3 proposals out there right now. One from Graves, one from the Senate, and one from the House. I would like to know which one is the best. The state congress usually deals with school finance at the end of April. http://www.accesskansas.org/government/state-representatives.html

Not trying to start a panic. I just had information and thought I would share it.

In our small little district, even if we get a $20.00 per student raise (which is the best proposal even mentioned as opposed to the cuts) we will still lose $65,000.00 state aid due to declining enrollment. We already know we will have to pay $40,000.00 more for health insurance. That is $105,000.00 that will have to be cut from other sources or raised in local option budget, and that doesn't allow for any pay raise or other cost increases. I don't think our district is so different from many others. In our district wrestling is not and will not be on the cutting block but other sports likely will. How about your district? Do you know what is going on?

Newspapers say that the only solutin is to let school districts use their reserves. That is the same idea that led Kansas to a 7 million dollar deficit and started this mess. They have to fund schools or they are going to cost everyone programs of all kinds. Very dissapointing story in the Kansas City Star. If that is the legislators only solution we are doomed. Hope everyone enjoyed their little $600 gift from the government, we are going to pay for it big time. If they dont find a way to pass a small and it would be small, tax increase to fund public education it is going to be a mess.

I don't disagree with you at all, but before you take your arguement upstream you might want to recall that the $600 advance on accrued income tax payable was at the national level - not the state level. That budget crisis waiting to happen has not even been addressed yet.

Les; Yep you are right about that next funding crisis that is coming. I get a kick out of our fearless leader talking about how education is a priority with him. Some priority huh. I think they forget that not all of our kids have fathers that sit on the board of Exxon Oil. I think it is time that ordinary people start taking the time to find out how to remove people from office that have managed to squander our taxes and leave education out of the mix except in speeches of course.

Randy, I've known you longer than almost anyone on this forum and I have always respected your views on various subjects. I want to put a different light on the funding issue. First, I think a big problem is taxpayers not trusting the local school board. Our school board in Manhattan has told us for the past year, "we cut 1 million dollars from the budget." (We have an independent paper called the Free Press.) In this weeks issue, the paper stated we didn't cut 1 million but in fact we increased approx. 3 million. Who do we believe? Second, we are closing two elementary schools for next year to save $ plus we are losing students. We are losing students because of the taxes and affordable housing in Manhattan. Many people work in Manhattan but live out of the district. If property taxes and the cost of housing remains as it is, I see Manhattan losing even more students. We have lost over 500 students in the last two yrs!! I work with approx 45 people, only three have kids in the Manhattan district. It is cheaper to drive from Clay Center, Wamego, Riley,etc than to live in Manhattan. My point is, most people in this community are taxed out. I think school districts need to more accountable before any tax increase. Before we yell at the state level, we should be checking at the local level.

WalterV thanks for the link. To ALL please send your Congressman, or Senator an email requesting information on this matter. Many issues are local and handled by the school boards, yet it is the House and Senate who decide which funding will be cut, or increased. Although I doubt any increases will be forthcoming.
Get involved with your local school board, find out when the meetings regarding budgets are taking place. We support our schools with the taxes, and have a voice in these matters, if we choose to speak up. We cannot find and keep good teachers, let alone fund our sports programs. GET INVOLVED!!!

THE SKY IS FALLING!