Kansas State Board of Education candidates on the issues: Proving value to taxpayers

The Johnson County Post ran the last installment of a weeklong series in which candidates in the Nov. 3 election answered reader-suggested questions. This installment is about the Kansas State Board of Education. The final question asked whether Johnson County public schools are effective, whether taxpayers get fair value, and what information beyond test scores should be made public so residents can judge how money is used.

Two candidate responses appear in the article. The first candidate calls the county's schools strong and says taxpayers should see what their investment produces. This candidate would publish data on academic progress, completion and attendance, staff turnover, readiness for life after high school, and spending in classrooms and student services. The candidate notes much of this is already gathered and needs to be presented clearly. The candidate also says qualities like confidence and resilience matter but are hard to measure, and urges residents to visit schools.

The second candidate also calls the schools effective and says taxpayers get their money's worth overall, while saying every district has made some unwise spending choices on building projects and operations. This candidate says test scores are useful and wants simpler financial disclosures developed by the state board and legislature so ordinary residents can follow local budgets.