To the editor:

During our most recent state political campaign, there was going to be bipartisan support to rectify education funding. Now it has fallen victim to political football or business as usual.

Are you sick of this?

The source of the problem is irresponsible tax cuts. The state property tax rate has been cut by 43 percent since 1992. That is why there is no money for schools, highways, the elderly, the disabled, more state troopers and adequate Kansas Bureau of Investigation crime lab staffing. Kansas isn’t Washington, D.C., with its huge, bloated bureaucracies and rampant waste. We can’t cut our way out of this mess. We need more revenue.

Restore the core: The Kansas Constitution requires the state to pay for the core elements of an adequate education for all students. That’s not being done, and sooner or later, somebody will sue the state, and the courts will end up making the taxing and spending decisions that ought to be made by our elected officials.

Half a loaf for all: The easiest and best solution is to restore 50 percent of the revenues lost to tax cuts since 1992. This would raise enough revenue for the state to meet its obligations and maintain the infrastructure we need for growth and economic development, while still leaving taxpayers with a significantly lesser tax burden than they had 11 years ago.

Richard Heckler,

Lawrence