In the eyes of a statewide teacher organization, Lawrence Democrats Troy Findley and Barbara Ballard are at the top of the class in their support of state funding for public education.

And, one of Douglas County’s leading Republicans, Ralph Tanner, is at the bottom of the Kansas National Education Assn.’s class.

	KNEA grades of eight Lawrence-area legislators:Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, advanced.Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence, advanced.Sen. Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, advanced.Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, proficient.Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, satisfactory.Rep. Lee Tafanelli, R-Ozawkie, unsatisfactory.Rep. Ralph Tanner, R-Baldwin, unsatisfactory.Sen. Robert Tyson, R-Parker, unsatisfactory.

KNEA, which has 26,000 members representing all levels of education in Kansas, examined key school-finance votes by House and Senate members in the 2002 session and compiled a report card on each lawmaker.

Each lawmaker was rated advanced, proficient, satisfactory, basic or unsatisfactory. Assessments for eight Lawrence-area legislators ranged from advanced, equivalent of an A grade, to unsatisfactory, or an F.

House ratings were based on five votes on bills, while Senate marks reflected four votes. Each bill was given a point value, which was totaled to determine grades.

Reps. Ballard and Findley voted with KNEA all five times on the school-finance measures. That earned each an advanced rating, up from satisfactory last year.

“People want good education and opportunities,” said Ballard, a Kansas University administrator and former Lawrence school board president.

“I never really follow these ratings that much,” Findley said, “but given the fact education is one of my top priorities as a legislator, I’m gratified by the recognition.”

Unsatisfactory marks

Reps. Lee Tafanelli of Ozawkie and Tanner of Baldwin ran afoul of the KNEA, earning unsatisfactory ratings for their House positions on school funding. Both Republicans sided with KNEA-supported legislation on two of four votes in the study.

Tanner, chairman of the House Education Committee and a former Baker University president, said the association’s assessment wasn’t sophisticated enough to provide meaningful dissection of legislators’ work. Tanner had an unsatisfactory rating last year, too.

“There’s an absolute failure on the part of KNEA to do any analytical kind of study of this vote structure,” Tanner said. “They keep this kind of activity up, they’re not going to have any friends in the majority party. They need those friends.”

Tanner said he and many other Republicans had spent years supporting public education. That should again be evident by adoption of a $20 per-student increase in state funding to school districts in the last session, which wouldn’t have been possible without Republican votes.

Craig Grant, KNEA’s director of governmental relations, said Kansans might pay more attention to special-interest group ratings of legislators’ voting records during the 2002 election cycle especially if tied to public education. Adjusting state taxes to generate money for schools was a contentious issue in the last legislative session.

‘Broad support’

It was a single vote against Senate Bill 575 that cost Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, a perfect grade from KNEA. He opposed addition of $39 million to the school-finance formula by creating two upper-level state income-tax brackets. That left him at proficient, which was better than last year’s satisfactory.

“I had voted for increases in income tax in a different bill, but I did vote against that upper-bracket bill,” Sloan said. “Essentially, public education should be broadly supported. If it’s sales tax, it should be applied to everyone. The same for income tax.”

In the other chamber, Sen. Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, offered unanimous support on the four school-finance bills flagged by KNEA. Hensley, a special-education teacher and member of the Senate Education Committee, received a grade of advanced.

Sen. Sandy Praeger, a Lawrence Republican running for state insurance commissioner, was given a satisfactory rating. She cast one vote that KNEA found troubling. She supported increases in state funding of Kansas school districts, but balked on Senate Bill 640, which would have put in money to fund the $20-per-student increase in base aid.

Last year, the association gave Praeger a grade of advanced, which is two levels higher.

Sen. Robert Tyson, R-Parker, received an unsatisfactory rating from KNEA because he voted against three of four measures assessed by the association.