Throwing money at a problem is not leadership or an answer. But State Representative Barb Wasinger’s democratic opponent thinks otherwise.
We have heard a lot from Ed Hammond over the last month. Unfortunately, even though he has said a lot, he hasn’t told us much about himself, his positions, or his beliefs. He has mostly spent his time telling us why his opponent is bad and wrong while not giving us much of an understanding of his ideas and solutions.
We know his position on education. He believes schools should have an open checkbook that allows them to spend as much money as needed to provide a good education. The problem is that Kansas’s checkbook is not limitless, and money doesn’t guarantee a good education. Barb knows we must ensure every dollar is spent wisely and gets to the teacher and the classroom.
Ed Hammond wants a blank check for public schools and universities without restrictions or guidance to ensure that money reaches the teachers, students, and classrooms. Funding is not the only problem with schools and special education. Does he have a plan on how he will help fix the existing system? If he does, it would be great to hear that plan.
Barb has been consistently pro-education, pro-student, and pro-teacher. She wants each young person in our state to receive a high-quality education. She wants to see every single student be prepared for success when they leave our schools. Money is part of that solution, but only if it is well spent with an understanding that it is not limitless.
We would like to hear where Ed stands on other issues that are very important to us too. Education is only part of the legislative agenda, and many other issues will be proposed and debated this year. I have even searched his website for answers to abortion and defunding the police, for example, and found none. These issues in my opinion need to be on the forefront of the debate.
Since education is the only topic that Ed wants to discuss, we would like to know how he will vote on these two issues which affect our schools and their athletic programs. This year we are excited to be celebrating fifty years since the historic passing of Title IX. Title IX has been an incredible game-changer for women’s athletics and activities. We would like to hear how he will continue to protect women’s athletics in our state. Will he ensure that females only have to compete against other females and that they will have privacy in their own locker rooms? Will he ensure that only other female athletes break the records they worked so hard to set? We would like to hear his view on this issue as it affects many of our daughters.
The other thing we would like to know is how he is going to vote in the upcoming vote on the KSHSAA Multiplier. Is he for punishing private schools (primarily catholic schools) by forcing them to play up a classification? The current proposal to be voted on in the Kansas legislature will force many private schools to play up a classification against much bigger schools. These schools are being punished for being successful against schools of a similar size. They are putting kids at risk in sports like football and wrestling by making them compete against much bigger schools. Public schools with the same success level against their similar-sized peers do not receive a bump. Why is one group of schools treated differently? The voters would like to hear how Ed Hammond will vote on this proposal as it affects our community and schools.
Ed Hammond states that K - 12, Fort Hays State and HaysMed are the largest employers in the area, what he forgets to mention is they are all tax dollar funded and other than HaysMed they do not produce actual income. They take the wealth from the citizens in tax dollars, but no one has mentioned this.
Though I feel Medicaid expansion is important, if it wouldn’t have been for the unrelated abortion debate derailing the bipartisan effort in the 2022 session, it probably would have passed.
Although Kansas has not implemented the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, the state did implement the American Rescue Plan provision that allows states to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months (postpartum Medicaid coverage previously ended 60 days after the baby was born). In Kansas, the postpartum Medicaid coverage extension took effect in April 2022.
These are just a few examples of the many things Ed has not told us about his beliefs and how he will vote on issues. If we elect someone to represent us, we need to know what they stand for and how they will represent us on all the issues and not just education.
Joe Wilkerson , Catharine