Category: Opinions

Newly elected legislators face challenging task

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Opinion column
by Murrel Bland

Some if not all of the newly elected 60 Kansas legislators may be asking the question, “What have I done?” At least that is the comment from Kathy Damron, a lobbyist who expressed that view at the monthly meeting last Friday, Jan. 13, of the Legislative Committee of Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce.

Legislators are scrambling to find $342 million to fill the budget hole for the current year and $582 million for the next fiscal year, which will begin July 1.

Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed his version of the budget. However, strong indications are that much of his proposals will be rejected. The governor wants to securitize the tobacco settlement dollars that the state will receive—this is estimated to be about $530 million. Critics of this plan argue that these funds were supposed to benefit needy children.

The governor has also proposed to increase the filing fees for nonprofit organizations and businesses by 500 percent. He also wants to hike the tax on cigarettes a dollar a pack and double the enforcement tax on alcohol.

The governor has not called for any adjustment on the “LLC Loophole” which allows for small businesses to escape paying state income tax. This provision, promoted by the governor, was passed in 2012 as a way to promote economic development. Gov. Brownback’s critics have argued that it has not worked, but rather given small business owners a free ride.

The governor continues to argue that his LLC exemption will work. He blames an economic downturn in three major Kansas industries—gas and oil, aircraft and agriculture. Once these industries recover, the exemption will show positive results, the governor argues.

Legislative observers expect a combination of new moderate Republican legislators and veteran Democrats to form an alliance that will either eliminate or severely modify this LLC Loophole. This could produce an estimated $300 million annually.

The unknown factor that is expected to face legislators is the pending school finance decision that the Kansas Supreme Court will hand down soon. This could mean the Legislature would have to come up with another $500 million, according to legislative watchers.

The Johnson County League of Women Voters will sponsor a legislative forum at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Main Library, 625 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kan. All members of the Wyandotte County legislative delegation have been invited.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is executive director of Business West.

Movie review: ‘Hidden Figures’ reveals fascinating story about early space exploration

“Hidden Figures, ”a motion picture directed by Theodore Melfi; screenplay by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. Starring Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer, Taraji Henson and Janelle Monae; rated PG, 2 hours, 7 minutes.

by Murrel Bland

Every American should see the move “Hidden Figures” that is now playing at the AMC 14 Legends Theaters. It is an untold story of the group of black women who played a very significant role in the early days of space exploration.

Much of the movie is set at Langley Air Force Base, Va., in the early 1960s when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was in a race with the Soviet Union to explore outer space. There was an immense pressure from the federal government in general, and President John F. Kennedy specifically, to be the first country to put a man on the moon.

The Soviet Union was the first to launch a satellite—Sputnik—in October of 1957. The first U.S. satellite—Explorer– wasn’t launched until January of 1958. The Soviet Union had the first man in space—Yuri Gagarin-in April 1961. Then about a month later, the first American in space was Alan Shepherd, a Mercury astronaut. The space race was moving ahead rapidly.

Kevin Costner portrays the supervising NASA engineer who was responsible for making certain that the Mercury (single-man) and Gemini (two-man) capsules were launched successfully. Katherine Johnson (portrayed by Taraji Henson) was the only woman and the only black person in a huge room at Langley to work on this project. Johnson quickly demonstrated mathematic skills that helped the success of the space venture.

Janelle Monae Robinson, a Kansas City, Kan., native, portrays Mary Jackson who had to go before a Virginia judge to get permission to attend an all-white high school where extension courses in aeronautical engineering from the University of Virginia were being taught. According to the movie, she was the first black woman in the United States to receive an aeronautical engineering degree. She joined NASA and played a very significant role.

The film is well acted and directed. It moves quickly and is particularly interesting for those of us who lived through this era. Most of those who attended the matinee performance Saturday, Jan. 7, probably would agree it is worth seeing, judging from the applause at the end of the movie.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press.

Letter: Teachers ask for fair treatment

Dear editor,

In USD 500 we pride ourselves on becoming innovative and in striving to be a top 10 district. Unfortunately, my teacher colleagues and I feel that we are copying the same authoritarian leadership structure that plagues the worst urban school districts throughout the country.

This hits us doubly hard because we also have a district that suffers the most from the inadequate and inequitable school funding brought to us most recently and harshly by the Brownback regime.

School funding matters a great deal, but beyond this, the most important factor in student achievement is the quality of the classroom teacher. This is why it is so important, especially in this age of devastating school funding, for USD 500 district leaders to reprioritize teacher retention. Sadly, over 250 teachers left the district last year and all signs show that even more that will leave this year. Most of us want to be here, but just need a signal that our work matters. One of the best ways for our board and superintendent to keep us here working with kids in KCK is to trust us.

Kids deserve great teachers who are committed to them. But we also need to trust that our district is looking after us. One of the clearest ways the district can start to show us they care whether we stay or leave is through our contract. Tellingly, last year we went nearly the entire school year before our contract was signed and we still do not have a contract for the current school year, 2016-2017.

NEA-KCK, our representative union, and the USD 500 Board of Education have gone to fact-finding, which means no agreement could be reached through negotiations, even when an independent mediator was brought in. Now, someone else must look at the facts underpinning negotiations and present what looks like the fairest arrangement. Still, the board can say no if it does not like what it hears.

We simply want the district to honor the salary schedule we agreed to several years ago that, while affordable, is competitive with other local districts for teachers that choose to stay in KCKPS. In fact, it costs less than a district proposal that results in far lower career earnings than those in districts like Blue Valley. Beyond this, we want a couple of things that all Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley teachers take for granted: due process and adequate plan time. These items build a tremendous amount of trust among teachers for their leaders.

We feel this would be enough to save a significant amount of quality teachers for KCKPS kids. Perhaps more importantly, this would start to rebuild the relationship that teachers want to have with their board, superintendent and administrators that has been so sorely lacking in the last several years.

Unfortunately, our district leaders continue to respond with the same refrain: the district is too poor to retain good teachers. Because we see our superintendent and administrators (underpaid themselves no doubt) making better salaries than 90 percent of those who hold the same positions in other Kansas districts, we often wonder why the explanation of poverty only holds for teachers. This causes additional resentment because we also watch our district reject ideas aside from our affordable salary schedule, like due process and a plan time guarantee, things that cost very little. This makes it feel like they see us as an enemy or problem to be controlled, rather than a partner in the education of our kids.

While USD 500 teachers like me understand that Brownback and other ultra-conservative Kansas legislators are damaging our schools and kids with their despicable tax and funding plans, we also see a lot of room for our board leadership to listen to our concerns and take a clear-eyed look at the numbers, rather than trusting one or two people at the very top of the hierarchy in our district to tell them what is true.

This is not fair, it’s far from democratic, and worst of all it causes kids to suffer while they watch teachers walk around something like a revolving door. Our kids understandably come with more needs and teacher effort is greater because of it. We’re simply asking to be treated fairly and respectfully by our district leadership.

Please stand up for teachers who want to stay, inspire and challenge kids in USD 500. Contact school board members and tell them you want to keep good teachers rather than force them away. We want a great education for every child and we want to keep teaching in Kansas City, Kan. We just need our district to work with us, rather than against us, to start rebuilding a relationship that works best for students.

Michael Rebne, teacher