The Advocate - A KASB Podcast
It’s Getting Real: Funding Crises, Vouchers, and the Sprint to Turnaround
Feb 13, 2026
Season 4
Episode 5
Kansas Association of School Boards
It’s officially crunch time at the Kansas Statehouse — and this week on The Advocate, Shannon and Leah unpack the bills that could reshape public education in Kansas for years to come.
We’re talking:
- A full-blown special education funding crisis, with districts forced to pull nearly half a billion dollars from classroom budgets just to meet legal obligations.
- The House passage of HB 2468, the federal voucher opt-in bill — and why the 70–49 vote matters more than you might think.
- Quiet but dangerous proposals that could cut at-risk funding, limit bond election communication and shift power away from locally elected school boards.
- The real story behind cell phone bans, property tax changes and expanding state mandates on public schools.
- And a rapid-fire preview of Turnaround Week, when dozens of major education bills hit the floor all at once.
This episode is your roadmap to what’s moving, what’s at risk and where your advocacy can make the biggest impact — right now.