In The News

Sedgwick County Commission votes 3-2 to not challenge Southfork TIF - Wichita Eagle

(May 10, 2012) DEB GRUVER Sedgwick County commissioners voted 3-2 Wednesday to support a tax-increment financing district for developer Jay Maxwell’s Southfork project. The city of Wichita already had approved the district, which will capture future taxes to be used to improve 72 acres

Kansas Policy Institute Defends Newspaper Ads - Kansas Public Radio

(May 4, 2012) DAVE TRABERT Audio commentary.

Open Letter from think tank prez to KNEA official - Gardner News

(May 3, 2012) DAVE TRABERT Mark, I just read your comments in The Gardner News story (“Think Tank, education officials debate school testing, funding,” 4-25-12) where you said Kansas Policy Institute was “lying by omission.” Anytime you would like to join me for a public discussion of these

Letter to the editor stirs dispute among Chamber members, leadership - Wichita Eagle

(May 2, 2012) BILL WILSON Wichita Metro Chamber Chairman Walter Berry’s letter to the editor supporting the Kansas Policy Institute, written without consultation with the pro-business group’s leadership, has irritated several Chamber members, including the superintendents of two member school

Kansas Policy Institute is honest, forthright - Wichita Eagle

(May 1, 2012) WALTER BERRY The Eagle editorial board recently wrote an editorial about the conflict between the Kansas State Board of Education and one of its members, Walt Chappell (April 19 Eagle Editorial). It stated that Chappell joined the Kansas Policy Institute “in playing fast and loos

Think tank, education officials debate school testing, funding -Gardner News

(April 25, 2012) DANEDRI THOMPSON The Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) isn’t backing off its claims about the ineffectiveness of Kansas public schools. The debate is playing out in newspapers across the state after KPI, a think tank, ran a series of ads that opponents say attack the public edu

Honest discussion - The Wichita Eagle

(April 24, 2012) DERRICK SONTAG I found it ironic that The Eagle editorial board labeled the Kansas Policy Institute’s K-12 education newspaper ads as “misleading” when the same editorial stated that state per-pupil base aid had been “slashed” to 1999 levels (“Chappell invited rebuke,” April 1

About taxes, unions -The Wichita Eagle

(April 24, 2012) DIANE WAHTO The Kansas Policy Institute’s ad in the Sunday Eagle asked us to take the word of the ad’s author against the word of education professionals about student testing. As a teacher of 30 years’ experience, I would trust those people who are on the front lines of educa

Sedgwick County Commission approves forgivable loan for Quality Solutions relocation - WBJ

(April 19, 2012) EMILY BEHLMANN The Sedgwick County Commission authorized on Wednesday a $20,000 forgivable loan to Quality Solutions Inc., a Wichita business looking to move into a larger facility in Colwich.

Chappell invited rebuke - The Wichita Eagle

(April 19, 2012) RHONDA HOLMAN State Board of Education member Walt Chappell invited this week’s rebuke from the majority of his fellow board members by joining the Kansas Policy Institute in playing fast and loose with the truth about student achievement and, worse, by accusing the state’s t

Newspaper Ads about KS Student Achievement Misleading -Kansas Public Radio

(April 19, 2012) TONY MOSS Perhaps you've seen those newspaper ads that imply Kansas students aren't doing so well when it comes to reading and arithmetic on statewide tests. It's worth pointing out that these ARE advertisements - not actual news stories. Regardless, the ads have been gettin

Steve Rose column - The Kansas City Star

(April 18th) DAVE TRABERT To paraphrase Steve Rose, if you want to reach a pre-determined conclusion, don’t let the facts get in the way (4-11, 913 Commentary, “Misleading ad on schools doesn’t let facts get in its way”). That’s exactly what he did in falsely accusing Kansas Policy Institute

Kansas Policy Institute Op-Ed Response to Steve Rose Opinion on Education -Shawnee Mission Times

(April 12, 2012) DAVE TRABERT Steve (Rose) - you have unfortunately been horribly and quite deliberately misled by Dale Dennis and others who claim our ads were ‘misleading.’ The truth is that we are simply sharing facts that parents don’t get from KSDE or their local districts.

Kansas should improve economic climate, rely less on incentives -Voice for Liberty in Wichita

(April 12, 2012) MAURICE MCTIGUE Kansas policymakers left for recess on the heels of a very disappointing jobs report last week. According to the latest jobs report, the state ranked fourth in terms of jobs lost with a 5,700 decrease in employment. As legislators prepare to return in a couple

Property taxes are reason for poor ranking, not income taxes -The Wichita Eagle

(April 12, 2012) PHILLIP BROWNLEE The first speaker at Wednesday’s economic development conference in Wichita, sponsored by the Kansas Policy Institute, discussed how Kansas is the 47th best state to run a mature business and 48th for starting a new company, according to a recent Tax Foundatio

Speakers: Kansas overburdened by government, taxes -City Code Financial

(April 11, 2012) DION LEFLER -The Wichita Eagle Instead of giving incentives to businesses to locate to Kansas and Wichita, the state and city should cut taxes and regulations to create a climate where businesses will naturally want to come here.

Misleading ad on schools doesn’t let facts get in its way -The Kansas City Star

(April 11, 2012) STEVE ROSE If you want to reach a conclusion you have already decided on — in this case, that public schools are overfunded, not underfunded — then you just back into numbers that appear to make your case.

Economists, policy makers discuss route to prosperity at Wichita event -Wichita Business Journal

(April 11, 2012) EMILY BEHLMANN It would be tough for Kansas or its governments to entirely eliminate economic development incentive programs, especially when other states and communities are offering them to businesses, Kansas Policy Institute President Dave Trabert said Wednesday during a g

Speakers: Kansas overburdened by government, taxes -The Wichita Eagle

(April 11, 2012) DION LEFLER That was the general consensus among free-market experts and advocates brought to Wichita on Wednesday from around the country for an economic development conference sponsored by the Kansas Policy Institute, a free-market think tank.

Conference speakers: Tax and government cuts better than public incentives for spurring growth

(April 11, 2012) DION LEFLER Instead of giving incentives to businesses to locate to Kansas and Wichita, the state and city should cut taxes and regulations to create a climate where businesses will naturally want to come here.