Just a little hot news from the some of the metro big school leagues. If the new proposals go through and they cut 300 bucks per kid from the budgets athletics will be a thing of the past in the metro (Kansas City) Everyone else will be in the same bind. All of you better raise cane with the congress or athletics is going to go out the door. Believe it!!! It is about to happen. There are serious concerns about being able to open the doors of some districts if the present proposal goes through.

I am not talking about just wrestling here. I am talking about every single sport. It is being discussed and they have no choice. A cut of that magnitude will be dissastrous for public education. It is being discussed this week here in Kansas City and they have no choice if it goes through. We need a call to arms here people or last years state tourney is the last one you will see like that for many years.

In a class that I am taking the professor said that Kansas is expecting a 700 million dollar short fall in tax revenue this year. One thing he mentioned was extra curricular activities becoming pay to play. Funding for schools is only going to get worse over the years.

Walter;
He can say whatever he wants but I am telling you that as of yesterday the discussion is ongoing that athletics are going to be done away with completely in the Kansas City Kansas School district and several others around the state. All of us better ask where, all of the sudden, 700 million dollars went and we better get after our congressmen. No time for debate, they are going to do something in the next three weeks. If we don't want to see athletics go by the wayside, we better make our thoughts heard

Don't get carried away here. Athletics is not a large percent of the schools budget, very miniscule(1.3%). Doing away with athletics does not improve a schools position with a budget. They may make cuts, and trim budgets, but doing away with all extra curricular activities is neither beneficial for budgets or for kids. There is very little improvement in a schools districts budget situation. I read the paper this morning, and I feel that over the next few weeks we will see many more articles mentioning cutting this program or that program. I honestly think that we will have to pay more taxes and the schools will lose instructors.

We all better wake up and if you don't think athletics and extra curruiclums are the first to go don't kid yourself!!Every school and teacher in the state of kansas are in trouble right now if they pass what they are talking about.We all need to write and ask why education is taking this kind of hit.

Dear Mr.Lane

I hope most of the people in Kansas don't take your advice and do get carried away.Our education program is in trouble in every town and city in the state of kansas right now if they pass this.Don't get carried away..tell that to the teachers that are going to lose their jobs and the students that will lose their programs they love, be it athletics,the liberal arts etc....some small communitys can not possibly make up the money that they will lose by incresing taxes.

By no means would I want to see any extracurriclar programs cut and I don't claim to be knowledgable on this topic. It would be by far preferable to keep the athletic programs, but would there be some good in not having to deal with some of the restrictive KSHSAA regulations as far as wrestling is concerned? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to get unlimited mat time like our younger kids can? We all know how dedicated wrestling parents are and always willing to do fundraisers and pay their own child's expenses. It would be nice for high schoolers to be able to participate in Tulsa Nationals and the regular USAWKS season. Could booster clubs and parent involvement finance this? I know this is not applicable to every sport, but I wanted to throw it out if this does become an issue we have to deal with.

Brent;
We better get completely carried away. I know for a fact that the die is cast on sports being completely cut in KCK if that proposal goes thru. This is Randy Westfahl in Olathe here. My number is in the book. Call me and I will tell you what I know. This is no time to be cautious here. I am not blaming one school official here it is totally the fault of the Kansas Legislature. They will have absolutely no choice in this deal if it goes thru and the plans are already in the works to drop the hammer on all sports, band, forensics and extra-curriculars. The layoffs will be staggering. None of this is a guess on my part. They will have no choice our shortfalls will amaze you if the $300 a kid cut goes thru. Call me, we need to act and we certainly don't want to be cautious. It is time to push the button.

I tend to agree with Brent on this one, its not really something to get carried away with. You know about 5 years ago our budget here in Abilene was way short, im talking about 300,000 short and they were talking about making athletes pay to play and all this other crap. But as it turned out they came away just fine and nobody was hurt. THe problem lies in the fact that the community doesn't want to support its schools, thats what it really comes down to. I know in Chapman thier "community" just voed to reject a local option budget that would have gave its board at least enough money to continue operating the way it had been, but of course the chapman members didn't want to pay. See to me that is just crap, I hear they could be in serious trouble and may have to shut another school down and fire 4 or 5 teachers but that of course is just rumors. Personally I don't think thats parents pay enough to send their children to school anyway. In Abilene I believe the tuituion for the whole year is like $65 or something like that. currently Abilene High School has like 400 students so you multiply that and you get something like $26,000 and the kid get to go to school all year. And the state has to fork over the entire rest of the budget. I turly believe in my heart that if our school district was suffering from the same problems others are that our community would pass a LOB, but who knows. THe point is that if this is really a concern for you and you think that a school is going to start cutting out athletics before a number of other things you are either crazy, or you live in a crappy school district and I suggest you move.

Nigel,no offense meant here but it is more serious than you think,all schools are talking about what this means to the state of kansas and it's education if this bill passes.Some towns already have LOB's and are taxed out.Education should be at the top of the list in prioritys in the state and government of Kansas,we the tax payers pay alot of money in taxes already,and just what about that lottery money that was supposed to go for education,it's called highway money now.It's going to be devestating to alot of communitys and schools if this passes,I would bet Abilene would also be effected,I cannot think of any town that would not be affected,you should hear how many teachers jobs in Hays are going to be affected if this passes,and it's a growing college city.It's not a thing to be cautious about right now.

Nigel;
Time to think globally my man. The cut they are talking about is unprecedented in the history of the state of Kansas. If it passes there will be a lot of school districts and I mean 70 to 80 percent of the districts in the state of Kansas that will have a difficult time simply meeting basic needs. I am talking about paying the light bills here and heating their schools. You can do the math here for yourself and math in Ablilene is pretty much the same as it is here in Kansas City. Just multiply 300 bucks times every single kid in your school district and that is how much in the hole compared to this year you are about to be. It is a big world out here and Abilene, while it is a wonderful place, is not the center of the Universe. If they have a choice, and they will have to make one be sure of this, between meeting the basic educational needs of the students (and I mean just barely) and having athletic programs, enough teachers, band programs, yearbooks, and all the other things that are not directly related to readin' writin' and rithmetic, what do you think they will have to do. WAKE UP NIGEL!! I bet if a metor hits Kansas, Ablilene will be unaffected by it, I am sure they have a plan in place. You better try to get some of those good folks out there to call their congressmen or we are going to have a mess on our hands. By the way do me a favor and call Paul Dennis and tell him Randy Westfahl said hi will you.

I strongly agree that action is needed now. Every school in the state of Kansas will be hit no matter where they are located. The biggest problem I see is how our legistrators are spending the money in the first place. Case in point is here in Topeka. They have been repairing highway 75 north of interstate 70 and instead of getting a company that is located in Kansas to do the work and to keep the money in the state, they have a company out of Minnesota doing the work. Sounds strange we are falling short in taxes but it's ok to have our taxes pay a company and individuals from another state so they can go back home and buy goods which in turn have taxes in their home state. Whoever thinks that action is not needed must be living in a dream world. Everybody needs to take action now or our kids are going to suffer.

I think you are all correct. I serve on my schools board of education. I have followed the budget situation closely for some time. I genuinely believe and hope that the legislature will eventually not take a radical stance on cutting the funding of education. That said, the squeaky wheel does get the grease. This is true at the local level as well. Even if the cuts are not severe, school districts will still have to find places to tighten up. There is a certain group of people who believe atheletics are not important elements of a well rounded learning experience, and would be quick to cut them unless your opinion gets heard. Panic? no! However, it would be very prudent to let your legislator know what you think of funding education adequately. I believe you should also let your local board know your opinion on the benefits of inter-scholastic competition, and encourage them to look at all alternatives to cutting them........In short, I would not panic, but it is foolish to not take a pro-active interest.

Nigel

The very reason you state to not get excited is the most compelling reason to get excited. Just as Abilene already looked at cuts in these programs and found ways around it, most districts, especially rural areas with declining enrollment have already made several rounds of cuts in recent years. In essence the easy cuts and waste have already been made, which makes it more likely that programs for kids (including atheletics) will get cut next time. Don't fool yourself!!!

Randy Westfahl is very much correct though with what is happening. with the budget cuts, there are already certain schools that have adopted a 'pay-to-play' status... Lansing HS, and Lawrence Free State (or maybe it is just Lawrence High) have already adopted the 'pay-to-play' set up at their schools. with the budget cuts, athletic programs are being targeted since the education system is more focussed on classroom education and less on the education of the student-athlete.

do not worry though, the sports aren't going to be cut completely. it just means that there are some alterations that will/may be made to the set ups.

this could be a good provision, where more dedicated kids will be out for the seasons. BUT it also means that kids who have never wrestled prior to high school who have potential to be talented wrestlers may never give it a shot since they have to pay to wrestle. we will see what happens, but be prepared for changes in ALL SPORTS in the near future until the economy manages to become more stable.

Well I guess this is everyone against me! Eitherway just to clear a few things up, now I remember hearing something about the state cutting out the lotorry becuase of a lot of corruption, im not sure if any of that is true, but in any case there goes that money, secondly and most importantly would it really be that badto have to pay to play sports? I know I would mind having a job to make a few bucks so I could play sports, and that is the real question to you all, Are you ready to have to pay to play sports, or are you going to start arguing with me about how it is your god given right to play sports for free in high school? The real point comes here. Abilene like other schools will be affected by this budget cut but unlike other schools we won't just sit on our butts and say "well this isn't fair" I believe that someone had a point here earlier Mr. Westfahl instead of griping and complianing about it happening contact your congressman he's the one thats letting it happen. But as for me im not going to do anything about it becuase im not concerned, for the plain reason that its not like the state is going to let the education program just go to crap.

I am definitely not in favor of pay to play. Believe it or not there still are kids who come from poor families. When I was in school, I worked for my books and clothes and spending money. I don't know that I would have been able to participate if it had been pay to play. Certainly, there are some districts that kids would not be able to afford this. I am reminded of a coach telling me when he taught at Topeka High several years ago, he decided it would be nice to have all the kids wear slacks and ties. They had the wrestle offs and one very good black kid won the wrestle off. The day before the match he went to the coach and said he would not be able to wrestle. The reason was the kid did not have slacks and a tie or the money to buy them. The slacks and tie policy ended that day!
Just as importantly, maybe not so much in wrestling, but in other sports if it cost 50.00 to play why not just buy the team new uniforms that should guarantee that your son got the starting quarterback job.

Nigel;
My thought here is to get people to call their congressmen. You obviously do not understand or care about what I am saying so feel free to ignore it as you wish. I coached fourteen years at Schlagle and in that time had some marvelous kids who turned out to be wonderful productive human beings much because of the opportunities they got from sports. If they would have had to pay to play, they wouldnt have been able to afford anything. We have over 20,000 kids in our school district here and many of them are very poor. I was simply hoping to find some concerned wrestling people out there who might call or write their congressmen or women. Hey if you don't think this has anything to do with your world thats fine. Pretend that I am not talking to you here thats ok.

you have to search for something positive in 'pay to play' though. for instance, if a kid is investing their (parents) money into their sports-education, they are more likely to be dedicated student-athletes... it seems, especially in wrestling where the demands on the student athlete are so high, that kids find it easy to just quit when things get tough.

also, team fund raisers are a great way to have the kids really come together prior to the season and built the family-like unit even before the kids hit the mats.

personally, i do not wish to see kids having to 'pay to play', especially since i coach on the side of a school district where there are many families that have financial problems. BUT when it comes, and it looks as though it will, i am at least going to make the best of a bad situatinon and not allow it to break down the unity of the program.