Ark Valley News - Civic lesson

Gov. Jeff Colyer gives a student a high-five as he walks into the library at Valley Center High School April 17.

Civic lesson
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: April 26, 2018

The state's top politician asked a room full of Valley Center teenagers to take a picture with him April 17.

On a three-city whirlwind ride to ceremonially sign the state's new education funding bill into law this week, Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer stopped at Valley Center High School for about 30 minutes.

"This is a great place," the governor said about the school. "It's a school where something is happening. This is a school that really takes kids and moves them forward."

After signing a copy of Senate Bill 423, which pumps an additional $500 million into public education over the next five years, Colyer talked about public service, education and careers and answered reporters' questions about funding.

"This bill is about helping schools grow and making sure that we have people trained and that we have the jobs of the future right here in Kansas," Colyer said.

He said the new legislation emphasizes outcomes and includes additional funding to assist students with mental health issues.

Colyer told students that the measure also includes a provision to pay for an ACT test for every Kansas student as well as assessments to determine career skills.

Colyer said the legislation had an "inadvertent" flaw in that it decreases expenditures to schools by $80 million. Colyer said he is confident the Legislature will correct the mistake during its veto session later this spring.

Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, a Valley Center High School graduate, was at this week's signing at the high school.

McGinn voted for the legislation.

"Initially the bill was something we could put to the courts to find out where we're at," she said.

McGinn said she hopes legislators will go back to Topeka and fix the flaw in the legislation.

Reporters asked Colyer to respond to criticisms from within his own Republican Party that public schools spend too much money on buildings and administration.

"We want our kids to have a great education," he said. "Some people want to cut funding for schools. Other people want to make our schools better. There were some who wanted to spend a whole lot more that was unaffordable. This is a very common-sense approach. And here's what it does: It actually requires outcomes. … It's important that parents and teachers control our schools locally. We want to make sure money is going into classrooms, and that's what this bill does."

When asked what he thought about the Valley Center High School building, a $40 million facility that was part of a 2008 bond issue, Colyer said: "It's a beautiful building. Our kids have to compete. This local community has put its own money into this, and I think parents were concerned that they wanted to make sure their kids have a great education."

The new law was in response to the Kansas Supreme Court's ruling that state funding was neither adequate nor equitable. The law will now go before the court for a ruling.

Valley Center Superintendent Cory Gibson said it was an honor to have the governor visit Valley Center. The district received a call from Colyer's director of business and education innovation, Diane DeBacker, last week.

DeBacker, former education commissioner, said Colyer was looking for schools to talk to about changes to public education.

Gibson, who has been heavily plugged in to legislative activity in Topeka, agreed.

"It's about our kids," he said.

Gibson said the education funding bill was a step in the right direction.

"We need to commend people like the senator and the governor who said we need to get something in front of the court," Gibson said. "… Our fear was that nothing would happen and we would face imminent shutdown. I don't know that it's enough, and the court will determine that. The bigger challenge for us is, it's spread over five years. Certainly, $500 million sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but the reality is it's spread over five years."

Colyer spoke to students about public service.

"It's really special and it's really important," he said. "That sense of service is what's so special about America and what's special about Kansas."

Students asked Colyer what he thought the fastest-growing industry in Kansas was, why he is running for governor and what he liked and disliked about his job.

Colyer said aircraft engineering, health care and agricultural trade are growth areas, that the best part of his job is talking to people and his least favorite is politics.

"The way I deal with it is, just be yourself," he said. "And I'm just going to be myself."