Davis exaggerates teacher layoff figures
Kansas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis appears to be exaggerating the number of teacher layoffs under Gov. Sam Brownback.
In an Overland Park forum last week, Davis said said that the governor’s budget cuts to education had resulted in thousands of teacher layoffs.
But an annual personnel report from the state Education Department showed that a total of only 201 teachers were the victims of a “reduction in force” in the 2011 and 2012 school years.
The Lawrence Journal-World
that Davis had made a similar claim in January when he gave the Democratic response to Brownback’s State of the State address. At the time, the Journal-World reported that Davis’ assertion was exaggerated.
Late Wednesday, the Davis camp responded by pointing out that Kansas had fewer full-time teachers in 2013 (34,398) than it did in 2008 (35,398).
But Brownback didn’t become governor until January 2011.
Peter Hancock at the Journal-World noted that since Brownback became governor, the total number of full-time teachers had actually
from 34,075 in 2011 to 34,772 this year.
Voters beware: This campaign increasingly looks as if it’s going to morph into a debate over budget and employment numbers. There’s going to be a lot to chew on.
This story was originally published March 12, 2014 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Davis exaggerates teacher layoff figures."