West Kansas facts for kids
West Kansas was a proposed new state in the United States. A group of people wanted to create it in the 1990s. This idea came about because of a new law about school funding. This law made things harder for schools in rural areas. The proposed state would have included nine counties in southwestern Kansas.
Why People Wanted a New State
In May 1992, the Governor of Kansas, Joan Finney, signed a new law. This law changed how money was given to schools. It raised taxes and moved money from country schools to city schools. This made many people in southwestern Kansas unhappy.
A group led by Don O. Concannon started to talk about leaving Kansas. They wanted to form their own state.
The Idea of West Kansas
The group held informal votes, called straw polls. These votes showed that many people in nine counties wanted to leave Kansas. These counties were Grant, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kiowa, Meade, Morton, Stanton, and Stevens.
On September 11, 1992, people met in Ulysses, Kansas. This meeting was like a special meeting to plan the new state. They decided to call the new state "West Kansas." They also chose a state bird, which was the pheasant. The state flower they picked was the yucca.
Why the Movement Ended
The idea of West Kansas did not last very long. The group never officially asked the Kansas Legislature to let them leave.
Seventeen school districts that were affected by the new law filed lawsuits. They hoped the courts would change the law. But in late 1994, the Kansas Supreme Court said the 1992 law was fair.
Even though the movement ended, some people still felt that southwestern Kansas was different. A professor named Peter J. McCormick said in 1995 that the issues of school control and taxes were still important.
