Ingram's April 2024

BETWEEN THE LINES

students are proficient in math. The problem is not money in either district. In Shawnee Mission, for in- stance, the operating budget has increased a court-driven 68 percent over the past decade—twice the rate of inflation. This, despite an enrollment increase of only about 7 percent. The infusion of new money has not goosed test scores a bit. In fact, scores have declined in both math and English. District-wide, less than 30 percent of high school students are now profi cient in math. At Sullivan’s thoroughly modern Shawnee Mission North, test scores are particularly anemic. The Kansas Policy Institute grades North a “D” on per formance. With only 18 percent of the school’s students proficient in math, the school was lucky to avoid an “F.” If the kids paid as much attention in algebra as they do in Social Justice 101, the school would get an “A.” To prove

In October, Sullivan testified before the state Legislature documenting the details of a curriculum that just 10 years ago would have been fodder for a sitcom. A pronoun policy? School district honchos could not deny her charges. DEI was “woven throughout” the curriculum, they admitted. “To pro- vide you access to anything that falls under DEI would be a monumental task.” As one state after another sweeps DEI into the dustbin of history, Shaw nee Mission stubbornly hangs on. And just as stubbornly, Sullivan hangs on to her job. “If parents knew what goes on in our schools,” she wrote, “the majority would be appalled.” Here’s hoping that the majority still holds.

The problem is not money: In Shawnee Mission, the operating budget has increased a court-driven 68 percent over the past decade— twice the rate of inflation. Enrollment? Only about 7 percent.

their ability to absorb propaganda, 60 or so of the little darlings stormed out of class last spring to protest Sullivan’s op-ed. “Our school should feel safe,” read one sign. “We are skip ping our lessons to teach her one,” read another. “Take action against Sullivan,” read a third from a student blithely indifferent to the First Amendment.

The views expressed in this column, which is also published online in the Heartlander, are the writer’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Ingram’s Magazine. Jack Cashill , Senior Editor, Editorial @ Ingrams.com

10

I ngr am ’ s

April 2024

Ingrams.com