TEG
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
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Good Evening
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It should be all
about the children.
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
SUPREME COURT SAYS
SCHOOL FUNDING IS UNFAIR
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
Editor’s note: This is the first
of a two-part series regarding
education funding. In the second
portion of the series current and
former lawmakers will share their
thoughts on education funding and
what steps the legislature will now
take.
The Kansas Supreme Court
ruled Thursday that the legislature
has inequitably funded schools and
gave lawmakers until June 30 to
work out a plan that meets constitutional requirements. If the legislature fails to create a solution by
the end of June, it could lead to a
court-ordered shutdown of schools.
“The legislature’s chosen path
during the 2016 session will ultimately determine whether Kansas
students will be treated fairly and
the schoolhouse doors will be open
to them in August for the beginning
of the 2016-2017 school year,” the
ruling said. “The legislature’s unsuccessful attempts to equitably,
i.e., fairly, allocate resources among
the school districts not only creates
uncertainty in planning the 20162017 school year but also has the
potential to interrupt the operation
of Kansas’ public schools. We desire
to avoid this uncertainty.”
Theresa Davidson, superintendent of Emporia Public
Schools USD 253, was not surprised that the court granted a stay
to give the legislature time to come
up with a solution.
“At this point they have given
the legislature a little more time,”
Davidson said. “Which we all knew
they would need time to make
some changes and figure it out. It is
going to be a short timeline considering the fact that they do not have
a new finance formula at this point.
They said they would give them until June 30 and if they don’t have a
formula by then it will be time to
close the schools.”
Up until the passage of Senate
Bill 7 last year, schools were funded
through a per-pupil formula established in 1992. SB 7 enacted block
grant funding, basically freezing
payments to school districts based
on the amount they received during
The “Rose Standards” set forth in Kansas statute:
1. Development of sufficient oral and written communication
skills which enable students to function in a complex and
rapidly changing society;
2. Acquisition of sufficient knowledge of economic, social and
political systems which enable students to understand the
issues that affect the community, state and nation;
3. Development of students’ mental and physical wellness;
4. Development of knowledge of the fine arts to enable students
to appreciate the cultural and historical heritage of others;
5. Training or preparation for advanced training in either academic
or vocational fields so as to enable students to choose and
pursue life work intelligently;
6. Development of sufficient levels of academic or vocational
skills to enable students to compete favorably in academics and
the job market; and
7. Needs of students requiring special education services.
Please see Funding, Page 3
JONES THANKS EMPORIA
By Cathryne Scharton
[email protected]
Motivational speaker and Emporia native Matt Jones finished
his seventh marathon on a seventh
continent in January and extends
thanks to the Emporia community
for helping raise money for his medical expenses.
Jones grew up in Emporia and
attended Emporia State University.
With dreams of being a professional
body builder, Jones’ life took a drastic change when he was diagnosed
with leukemia his senior year of college. After feeling unusually tired
and sluggish a trip to the doctor and
tests revealed Jones had Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
In his book “Life’s a Marathon,”
Jones remembers his doctor telling
him, “Matt, the good news is that
you can beat this. It’s not going to
be easy but you can do it.” Jones
had to immediately leave Emporia
to begin treatment at St. Francis in
Topeka. This was just the beginning
of Jones’ journey. After Jones was
in remission for the first time, the
cancer returned, twice. The second
time Jones was in the hospital he did
not have insurance and the hospital
wanted $100,000 down for his treat-
COURTESY OF MATT JONES
Jones finishes his seventh
marathon on a seventh continent
in Punta Arenas, Chile in
January. In February 2004, Jones
had to relearn how to walk.
BG CONSULTANTS
TO SEEK
SOLUTION TO
LYON COUNTY
FAIRGROUNDS
ELECTRICAL GRID
By John Robinson
[email protected]
COURTESY OF MARATHON ADVENTURES
Jones finishes his sixth marathon in January. Jones ran in Antarctica on a Tuesday and Chile on Friday
of the same week.
ment. The citizens of Emporia came
together to help raise money to help
pay for his medical expenses.
“That’s one of the great things
about living in a community like Emporia, where you have that support
and people really come together,”
said Jones.
After Jones’ treatments he had
to relearn how to walk and tie his
shoes.
“Two years earlier I am all about
body building and strength and now
here I am and I can’t even walk five
yards,” said Jones. “I laid in the hospital that day and I just thought to
myself ‘Man, if I just run a marathon
that would be like the ultimate endurance event,’ so that kind of started me on the path of wanting to do
that.”
In January, Jones ran his sixth and
seventh marathons on two remaining continents. Jones thought back
to his time in the hospital, when he
made a goal that some good would
come out of his situation and today
he inspires others around the world
with his idea that life is a marathon.
“We all have stuff (challenges),”
said Jones. “I believe out of your
Please see Jones, Page 3
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