Letter: Not so simple

To the editor:

Teaching science for 35 years in Kansas public schools, I found a statement by Albert Einstein true and a good guiding principle: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” I tried to break concepts down into simpler parts, but not misconstrue reality.

Concerning school finance in our state, Gov. Brownback stated in his recent State of the State address, “For decades now, Kansas has struggled under a school finance formula which is designed not to be understood, to frustrate efforts at accountability and efficiency.” The governor seems to imply simpler is better, that anything complicated is bad, even if the situation is not simple.

The state’s school finance formula is complicated because the funding situation for our school districts is not simple. The situation is complicated because the needs of students in each school district are not equal. The situation is complicated because districts have unequal resources. School districts do not have the same number of at-risk students, the same number of bilingual students, or the same number of special needs students, for example. School districts are unequal in their property values and ability to raise funds locally. Some school districts are unusually small, which increases costs; some school districts are unusually large, which increases costs; and some districts have unusually high transportation costs.

The governor stated he wanted something “simple” to “reflect real-world costs.” The real-world of school finance is not simple if we want ALL students to receive education.