‘YOU ARE MY VOICE’ – Citizens voice concern over schools, healthcare

It wasn’t exactly a love fest.
And while the mood remained congenial between legislators and their audience, there was a clear division of opinion between what the legislators and their constituents thought should be the goal of the current legislative session in Topeka.
For more than 90 minutes State Sen. Caryn Tyson and Rep. Kent Thompson listened to concerns of area citizens at a forum Monday night sponsored by Allen County Farm Bureau.
Education came round and round again as Tyson and Thompson both said they were uncomfortable with the impending decision by the State Supreme Court as to what an adequate education costs these days.
Neither said they thought schools were underfunded; nor were they amenable to being told by another branch of government, the judicial branch, what to do.
“I haven’t seen one number that tells me what education should be funded at,” said Thompson, questioning the high court’s ability to determine what the figure should be.
Tyson said in the arguments before the court “not one student has been able to prove they have been hurt,” by the current funding formula.
“We have been told we don’t have to comply with the court’s decision,” Tyson said.
Thompson said he expected a “constitutional crisis” to arise from the situation.
A clearly exasperated Dick Works, an Allen County commissioner, said to both, “You took an oath of office to uphold the constitution,” which orders the legislature to provide a suitable education for the children of Kansas.
Tyson insisted the state has not cut funding to education since her tenure of four years as a member the Legislature, while in fact, since 2008 state spending on education is down 16.5 percent. Today, base aid per student is $3,838, down from $4,400 in fiscal year 2009, with reductions by the state in each of the next three years.
As a second grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, Laura Caillouet-Weiner said teachers and school districts have cut their expenses “to the bone.”
Caillouet-Weiner said she worries her students will be even more disadvantaged if the state does not keep its current finance formula that distributes education funds statewide. If the funding formula returned to local property taxpayers, then areas such as southeast Kansas would be at a distinct disadvantage to those in affluent areas such as parts of Kansas City.
“Don’t the students I teach deserve the same education as those in Johnson County?” Caillouet-Weiner asked. “I have many students that receive free and reduced-priced lunches and have lots of problems. We teachers have gone without even a cost of living raise for years now.
“I worry about when I retire. Who’s going to replace me? Will this area be able to attract a dedicated professional?
“Times used to be bad for teachers,” Caillouet-Weiner said, “But not this bad.”
Darrell Monfort, local veterinarian, said, “Our children should be the most important product we have in Kansas. Yes, education is a big expense. It will always be an expense, but we should be looking at the outcomes. Our students should be worth the investment of providing them a good education.
“The last thing I’d like to see you do is order another study of what a suitable education costs,” Monfort said. “Use that money now and spend it on our schools.” 
Monfort was referring to two studies, one in 2002 and another in 2005, commissioned by the Legislature to place a number on what adequate funding to schools should be. Both studies were the basis of court orders to increase funding to Kansas schools.
Neither Tyson nor Thompson seemed eager to act on the concerns of the audience.
Thompson said with a shrug, “I am only one vote.”
To which Caillouet-Weiner said, “But I have no vote. You are my voice.”

ALL THREE Allen County Commissioners — Works, Tom Williams and Jim Talkington — attended the meeting, as did members of Allen County Farm Bureau, and the public.
Tim Cunningham, executive director of Tri-Valley Developmental Services, asked Tyson and Thompson whether they would support expansion of the state’s Medicaid program.
Medicaid is the major government health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans. In Kansas, one of 10 residents, or 300,000 residents, depends on Medicaid. The elderly and the disabled account for the majority of the program’s costs. Medicaid is the main coverage option for long-term care services and nursing home stays.
Under the guidelines of the new Affordable Care Act, the federal government will provide tax breaks for health insurance for those who make at least 100-400 percent of the federal poverty level. Premiums are decided on a sliding scale, according to one’s income. The federal poverty level for an individual is $11,490.
For those who fall below poverty, a state’s Medicaid program is thought to be their safety net. In Kansas, however, Medicaid is available only to the poorest of the poor.
A family of four can subsist on no more than $9,000 a year and qualify for Medicaid benefits.
It estimated 85,000 Kansas fall into the Medicaid gap — where they make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but are too poor to qualify for subsidies with the new health care act.
Thompson said he would not propose any legislation to expand Medicaid, but could see no reason for it not being approved.
“For the life of me, I don’t understand why we don’t go with it,” Thompson said, but thought it ultimately was Gov. Brownback’s decision.
The governor last year deferred the decision to the Legislature and has said this year he would not weigh in on the matter.
Neither Senate nor House leaders have said they would broach the topic.
Tyson said she was wary of the legislation.
As someone who provides services to the poor and the disabled, the inaction by state leaders leaves Cunningham nothing short of exasperated. He also expressed concern about the state’s “rush” to include services to the developmentally disabled under the umbrella of KanCare, the state’s revamped Medicare program, saying it was being poorly managed.
Three private insurance companies now run the program.
“It’s now a giant bureaucracy with layers and layers of subcontractors,” he said. “It’s eight times more bureaucratic.”

TYSON AND Thompson were to meet with health care professionals today at a luncheon as part of the Kansas Hospital Association’s Advocacy Day. It is expected hospital CEOs will make a final push for the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program.