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Brownback, Davis Clash Over Kansas Education Funding

Stephen Koranda

Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has unveiled some education goals he'll push for if he's reelected to a second term in office. Brownback says he'll aim for 60 percent of Kansas adults to have a college degree or technical certificate. As Stephen Koranda reports, the events in Topeka and the Kansas City area also touched off a clash over education funding.

Brownback touted funding increases during his time in office, specifically money targeted at technical education programs.

"You need a technical skill, you need a degree. You need that and our workforce needs that. They need it for themselves and we need it for Kansas," says Brownback.

But he also took the chance to take a shot at his Democratic challenger, state Representative Paul Davis from Lawrence. He says Davis voted against a bill that added more than $100 million in education funding in response to a state Supreme Court ruling.

"Paul Davis talks about it and votes against putting money in education. That's wrong," says Brownback.

Davis says he voted for an earlier version of the bill, but voted against the final product because it contained controversial policy changes. Davis points out that some other Statehouse Republicans voted against the bill. Davis also challenged Brownback's claims over education funding, pointing out that some types of school spending faced cuts early in Brownback's term.

Also running for governor is Libertarian Keen Umbehr.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.