photo by: Journal-World

Lawrence Public Schools district offices pictured in April 2021.

Lawrence school board leaders will soon consider their list of legislative priorities, including issues related to inflation, local control and the issuance of school bonds.

As part of its meeting Monday, the Lawrence school board will consider approving its 2023 legislative priorities, which create the basis for the district’s advocacy efforts and inform legislators about the greatest needs in the district, according to a district staff memo to the board. The proposed priorities include about 25 statements organized under four areas: constitutional responsibilities, funding for public education, goals for improving education, and foundational support for improving education.

The board reviews and revises the legislative priorities annually. The memo states that in addition to informing legislative efforts, the priorities also provide guidance to staff, community members, and interested partners on the board’s positions on key legislative matters at the state level.

The priorities continue to express support for locally elected school boards, adequate state funding, and the expansion of early childhood education, and express opposition to diverting public funds away from public schools through vouchers or other programs. Some of the additions to this year’s legislative priorities include support for adjusting state funding for inflation, local control of classroom content and the removal of caps on the issuing of bonds. A few examples of some of the new or edited statements are as follows, and the entirety of the three-page list is available as part of the board’s agenda.

• “We support suitable finance provided by the Kansas Legislature, including continued implementation of the constitutionally suitable school funding and inflationary adjustments approved by the Legislature, the Governor and the Kansas Supreme Court. Increased funding that compensates for rising costs will help districts pay suitable wages to recruit and retain highly qualified staff to continue to promote student success.”

• “To ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed, all schools supported by public funds must serve all children on the same basis as public schools. We oppose programs including but not limited to vouchers, education savings accounts and tuition tax credits because such programs divert public funding from public education to schools which are not required to serve all students, including those who are disadvantaged, disabled, or those with the greatest needs.”

• “We support improving teacher recruitment and retention through local control of classroom content, respect for the teaching profession, and increased funding for salaries, including the inflationary adjustments approved by the legislature and state Supreme Court.”

• “Ensuring equitable and adequate funding for school district capital costs by revising the capital improvement aid formula and allow districts to provide appropriate facilities. The legislature should eliminate the statute prohibiting the State Board of Education from approving a bond issue if the cap on bond and interest state aid has been reached.”

The Lawrence school board will convene at 6 p.m. Monday at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.