The Kansas National Education Association is trying, but stumbling, to support the governor's plan. Graves would like to generate the necessary money for the plan by raising the state's sales tax from 4.9 percent to 5.1 percent, and by raising the motor fuel tax by 2 cents per gallon.
Many lawmakers oppose raising taxes to fund the plan announced last week.
The KNEA supports the governor's plan, and says the results of a independent poll indicate Kansans could stomach a tax increase to fund it. The poll, conducted by Jayhawk Consulting, a company led by a former school district lobbyist, claims to indicate that 65 percent of Kansans would support a tax increase for education. That would seem to persuade some politicians who dismissed the idea of a tax increase to at least reconsider their position. The KNEA, however, is balking at releasing the questions from the poll it asked respondents, claiming the question are proprietary information. Such resistance fuels the notion that there might be something amiss in the poll.