Group awards local legislators top marks for votes on education matters

Fort Scott lawmakers Bob Marshall and Shirley Palmer were named to the Citizens for Higher Education Honor Roll for their votes on higher education.

Marshall, a Republican senator, was given a grade of A and Palmer, a Democratic representative, a B by Citizens for Higher Education. The group promotes quality higher education as the engine that creates well-paying jobs and economic prosperity in Kansas, issued the grades in its 2009-10 and lifetime report cards detailing how legislators voted on issues critical to higher education, a news release said.

In the last session, 24 Senators and 69 Representatives made the group s Honor Roll by scoring an A or B on the report card. On the opposite end of the scale, 17 Senators received a D or F as did 52 Representatives.

In 2009/2010 legislators were graded on a range of votes involving tuition, funding and policy issues for Regents universities and community colleges, campus safety, appropriations, budgets and more. The report card with individual voting records is available at www.kansashighereducation.org.

Honor Roll legislators understand that there is a link between quality higher education and the long-term economic well-being of our state, Bill Hall, chairman of Citizens for Higher Education, said in the release. Kansans who receive a quality post-secondary education earn more, pay more taxes, rely less on government programs and contribute more to their communities over their lifetimes. Plus, they are more likely to create jobs by starting and growing their own businesses. That's why pro-higher education legislators deserve our endorsement and support in this year s elections, the release said.

Citizens for Higher Education has produced report cards in the last three election cycles. For the first time this year, it has released the lifetime higher education voting records of Kansas legislators.

"We are pleased by the strong level of consistent support we have received from so many thoughtful legislators," Hall said. "Our state s community colleges and universities, and the graduates they produce, are the engines that drive our economy, both statewide and locally. In these difficult times we desperately need their creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to create new businesses and jobs for the 21st century."