The Kansas City region needs a much more robust higher education presence.
And no single university has the means to make that happen.
Those two realities have emerged in recent years as leaders have sought to help the region flourish in an economy that increasingly relies on information-based and science-based jobs.
Now Johnson County leaders have stepped forward with a creative way to boost the region’s higher education portfolio through partnerships with Kansas’ two largest public universities and the state’s academic medical center.
Johnson County residents will vote Nov. 4 on a proposal to increase the county’s sales tax by one-eighth of a cent to help establish the Johnson County Education and Research Triangle.
The proposed investment would be rewarded with bioscience jobs, brainpower, research dollars, scholarship funds and amenities for Johnson County and the region.
A YES vote is strongly recommended.
The tax would generate about $15 million a year. The money would fund construction and operations for three projects:
A research facility in Fairway, where scientists affiliated with the University of Kansas Medical Center would develop and test cancer-fighting drugs.
Kansas State University’s “Innovation Campus” in Olathe. Students and scientists would research food safety and animal health.
More classrooms and offices at the University of Kansas’ Edwards Campus in Overland Park. The expansion would enable the campus to serve an additional 1,000 students and offer 10 new degrees.
No tax proposal is perfect. This one would have benefited from a sunset provision. Voters should have the opportunity to re-evaluate their sales-tax increases periodically.
Happily, though, this proposal avoids a major pitfall of some other Johnson County sales-tax requests. It does not stipulate that a percentage of the revenues must be handed over to cities for unspecified uses.
A seven-member authority will oversee the new education money, which must be spent on construction, maintenance, operations and research at the three Johnson County locations.
None of the money will be used as substitute revenue for higher education programs already funded by the state.
In a perfect world, a cash-flush Kansas Legislature would benevolently volunteer to expand higher education offerings in Johnson County.
In the real world, the state is looking at a revenue shortfall.
Its universities are struggling with a $740 million deferred maintenance backlog.
And some powerful rural lawmakers aren’t about to cough up additional funds for the Kansas City region.
Fast-growing Johnson County is fortunate to have high-quality high schools and a gem of a community college.
Expanding four-year degree, graduate and research options is the logical next step, and waiting for the state would amount to a missed opportunity.
Investment in higher education and research yields multiple rewards.
The proposed triangle would be an asset to the region. Support for it would be a smart choice.
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Vote "no" on Johnson County research triangle.
The editorial implies that it is up to Johnson County to fund this project because, "the state is looking at a revenue shortfall." Where is the logic in that? Should Johnson County be helping out Wall Street or General Motors? They can use some help.
Hey, does anybody remember the "Silicon Prairie" initiative a few years ago? That was before the dot-com bubble burst. That was a joke.
The people who are promoting this, are smart. They are wrapping the package with "education," thinking that people from Johnson County cannot resist anything with "education" in the title.
Tax increases (of any kind) do make a difference. Just compare the number of gas stations on the KS side of State Line Road to the MO side of the same road. I can think of only one on the KS side.
The editorial suggests that lots of good stuff will follow a "yes" on this vote. Is Kansas City, MO flush with "research dollars" now that the Stowers Institute is up and running? If so, then maybe KC MO should fund this project.
The editorial says that a "yes" vote would allow scientists to "develop and test cancer-fighting drugs." There will be no payback to Kansans for that. If one of those drugs ever gets to market (think 12 to 15 years), the sponsoring drug company will take Kansans to the cleaners just like the rest of the US, although you might be able to get it cheaper in Canada or Mexico.
To be honest, I can't think of anyone who has written a letter to the editor of the newspaper, who was shocked at the lack of research in Johnson County. Has this been keeping people up at night?
So where the heck is there
So where the heck is there enough land in Fairway for KU to build a research facility? Is this the one they already have in Westwood, or are there plans in the making to bulldoze a neighborhood?