The Advocate - A KASB Podcast
The Kansas Association of School Boards Advocacy and Communications Teams bring you semi-regular updates from Topeka on current issues affecting K-12 Education.
- Update frequency
- every 9 days
- Average duration
- 18 minutes
- Episodes
- 22
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
Federal Funding Freeze
In this episode of The Advocate podcast, Leah Fliter and Shannon Kimball dive into the implications of the federal education funding freeze and what it means for Kansas public schools. They explain h…
2025 Legislative Session Wraps, Leaves Work to do
The quicker-than-usual legislative session is over. Leah and Shannon discuss what happened in the veto session, as well as the year as a whole. Underfunding, misinformation, tax plans, voucher bills …
Legislature Finalizes K-12 Budget, Heads to Veto Session
Leah and Shannon discuss what the legislature accomplished before its first adjournment. The K-12 budget plan was finalized with only $10 million in additional SPED money for 2026, though it will onl…
Misunderstanding of School Finance Hurting Legislative Debate
Leah and Shannon discuss issues that they, and other education advocates, are encountering with legislators not fully-grasping school funding topics like: cash balances and differences between genera…
SPED Funding, Education Programs Take Hit in New Proposal
Leah and Shannon discuss the flurry of bills being debated in Topeka before the legislature's first adjournment. The Senate is proposing SPED gets no new dollars for next year. The pronouns bill adva…
Big Week for Education: Tax, Budget, Mental Health, KPERS, BOE Authority Bills Coming
Leah and Shannon talk about the busy week ahead. The SPED funding battle still looms large in budget discussions, multiple tax bills could affect school funding and some positive bills on mental heal…
Senate Passes Controversial Ed Bills, Both Receive Bipartisan Pushback
Leah and Shannon discuss the Senate passing two bills, one a voucher and another stripping local control for BOEs, but neither with veto-proof majorities. They also talk about the House budget only i…
K-12 Budget Plan Dwindles, Vouchers Get Hearings & KASB Visits D.C.
Leah and Shannon discuss what the House Appropriations Committee agreed to cut from the K-12 budget plan, what two vouchers debated in committees look like and we hear about the priorities put in fro…
SPED Funding Boost Gets Approval, Voucher Debate Next Week
2025, Episode 3: Leah and Shannon discuss the plan to increase SPED funding by $30 million in FY 26 and 27, how the statewide mill levy change shouldn't decrease funding for schools, voucher bills th…
Property Tax Discussion Heats Up, K-12 Budget Next
2025, Episode 2: This week, Leah and Shannon discuss possible property tax and statewide mill levy cuts, voucher bills, a Greeley County bond fix and preview next week's K-12 budget discussion.
2025 Legislative Session Begins
2025, Episode 1: The Advocate is back! Leah and Shannon discuss the start of the legislative session, the State of the State address and what they heard in committee meetings this first week.
Ep. 54 The Advocate | A Successful Legislative Session for Public Schools
Welcome back to The Advocate!
Leah Fliter and Shannon Kimball discuss the recently passed K-12 Budget bill, SB 387, which fully funds the Gannon formula and provides an additional $75 million in state…
Ep. 53 The Advocate | Defeating Harmful Legislation
Tune in for the latest from Leah and Shannon at the Statehouse!
This week, they cover House Sub for SB 387, enrollment count and literacy bills in the Senate and the conference committees that will b…
Ep. 52 The Advocate | D.C. Style Politics in Kansas
In this episode, Leah & Shannon discuss the recent Day at the Capitol hosted by KASB, which brought together advocates from across the state to meet with their legislators and share their stories abo…
Ep. 51 The Advocate | Education Budget Bundling
Leah and Shannon cover SB 387, the K-12 education budget. SB 387 has numerous controversial provisions, including counting local taxes as part of SPED funding.
Also, join us on March 21 for KASB's Da…
Ep. 50 The Advocate | The Voucher & SPED Funding Fight Continue
This week, Leah and Shannon discuss the controversial voucher bill, SB 509, which received overwhelming opposition compared to supporters. They also talk about the continued SPED funding shortfall, a…
Ep. 49 The Advocate | Confirming the SPED Shortfall
Catch up on the latest from the Kansas State House with The Advocate!
Leah and Shannon discuss Thursday's SPED Funding briefing in the Senate Education Committee, setting the record straight about SPE…
Ep. 48 The Advocate | Turnaround Week
It was turnaround week in the legislature with two big bills not making it out of the Senate Education Committee, including SB 437, the KEEP program bill, and SB 465, providing additional capital out…
Ep. 47 The Advocate | Vouchers, Cell Phone Bans, Special Ed Funding & More
Leah and Shannon covered HB 2738 this week, which received a hearing in the House K12 Education Budget Committee. HB 2738 would change how funding is counted and then falsely assert that the legislat…
Ep. 46 The Advocate | Controversial Bills at The Capitol
Leah Fliter and Shannon Kimball have had a busy week of hearings and testifying against several controversial bills making their way through the legislature.
Some of these bills include provisions th…