Web posted
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Sebelius kicks off talks of new education council
Statehouse notebook
By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press Writer
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says the state needs to improve its coordination of education programs from preschool through graduate school.
She also worries that the education system has gaps, where students fail or leave school and don't live up to their full potential. She said the state needs to identify those gaps and address them.
The governor raised those issues during the first meeting Thursday of a new council she has formed to study such issues and make recommendations.
"There's no question that having the best-educated, best-trained, best-equipped work force is the only way we will keep jobs in this state," Sebelius said. "It is also clear that, at least traditionally, in Kansas and most other states, the education pieces operate somewhat in isolation."
The group is known as the P20 Education Council. That's P for preschool, and 20, denoting the grade that the last year of graduate school would be.
The council has 21 members, including legislators, educators and members of both the State Board of Education and Board of Regents. She issued an executive order creating the council in March.
During her remarks, Sebelius said there's a need for an "alignment of expectations" across the education system, using "longitudinal data."
"I'm hoping that you all will have, as I like to call it, the 30,000-foot view," she told the council. "What we need is a strategic group to focus on how to get it right, on how to take that 3-year-old through graduate school."
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VEEPSTAKES: -- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius remains coy about whether she wants to be Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket.
Asked Thursday whether she's interested, the governor said: "I'm going to do anything I can to help him get elected president."
Sebelius already has campaigned for Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee, most notably in Ohio, where Sebelius grew up. Her father is former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan.
Some Democrats also have included her name on lists of potential vice presidential candidates. National party officials consider her a rising star.
Sebelius also would not say whether she has had any discussions with Obama and his campaign about joining the ticket.
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GAMBLING: It's acceptable under Kansas law for prospective casino developers to phase in their investments, Attorney General Steve Six says.
The question arose as the Kansas Lottery Commission approved contracts with potential casino developers in Cherokee, Ford, Sumner and Wyandotte counties.
The new gambling operations are allowed by a law enacted last year. They will be owned by the Lottery. But the agency will hire developers to build and run the casinos.
The law requires a minimum investment of $225 million in Cherokee, Sumner and Wyandotte counties, and an investment of $50 million in Ford County.
Some of the prospective developers want to phase in the investment. The Lottery Commission approved 11 contracts in May, and a separate review board will pick one in each county.
In a legal opinion this week, Six said the law's "plain language" does not require that the investment "be expended all at once."
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TAX CREDITS: Donors to 24 nonprofit groups will be able to obtain $4.13 million in income tax credits, thanks to the Kansas Department of Commerce.
The agency announced Thursday that it has awarded the groups the use of the credits. The groups can then offer those credits to donors.
For a donation to a group in a rural area, the credit would be equal to 70 percent of the contribution. For groups in other areas, it would be 50 percent.
The largest amount of credits, $250,000 each, went to four groups.
They are Flinthills Services, of El Dorado; Friends of the Mary Cotton Library, of Sabetha; the Kansas Children's Discovery Center, of Topeka, and the William Newton Healthcare Foundation, of Winfield.
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