It’s in the numbers

(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers March 11, 2013)

Martin HawverIt’s in the numbers

This school finance business seems pretty remote to most of us…a bunch of complicated formulas, weightings and an in-the-constitution requirement to make “suitable provision for the finance of the educational interests of the state.”

But in the political world of the Kansas Statehouse, the school finance battle over whether the state is spending enough money on K-12 public education comes down to two numbers: $4,492 and whatever your property tax bill is before you vote in the August primary election in 2014.