The biggest takeaway from the 2016 presidential election is that, increasingly, lower- and middle-income Americans are feeling sidelined by society.
Donald Trump won because he promised to upset the apple cart by creating more jobs, provide better and more affordable health care and lower taxes.
That he can’t deliver is not the point as much as he got the message — there’s a lot of pain out here.
In Kansas, legislators seem to have missed the memo.
Instead, they have maintained a punitive course that starves our institutions and programs to the point they will be a shadow of their former selves.
For example, state funding for our colleges and universities has been cut by an average of 22 percent for each of the last eight years, up against a national decline of 18 percent, according to the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In Kansas, that’s a difference of $1,635 per pupil as compared to what was allocated before the 2008 recession.
Today, Kansas is one of a handful of states to continue slashing its education budget despite the rebound from the national recession. (Kansas continues a self-imposed recession due to the 2012 tax cuts.)
Average tuition has increased almost 30 percent — or about $2,000 per year — in Kansas.
One result is that even though they may be good students, those from middle- and lower-income households are deterred from applying to institutions of higher education as the financial burden continues to increase.
And yes, an educated workforce is what we want, nay need, to help take Kansas into the future.
OTHER ESSENTIAL building blocks to a vibrant society are being able to put food on the table and good health.
By now, Kansas is legendary in its niggardly treatment of the down and out. For the third time during the last five years, Kansas legislators continue to tear at the welfare safety net. Last week, Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation that reduces benefits from three years to two.
Remember, these are lifetime benefits.
