Now that the Kansas Supreme Court says education funding is in substantial compliance with court mandates, lawmakers and education officials are sifting through the ruling issued Friday and its implications for the state.
Lawmakers went back to the future, in a manner of speaking, revisiting a 2006 funding formula after a short-lived block-grant approach earlier this decade was not approved by the Supreme Court — then adding $500 million last year plus another $360 million over four years during the 2019 session. Kansas Senate Vice President and 17th District Senator Jeff Longbine of Emporia says he’s extremely pleased with the ruling. He’s relieved this likely ends the funding litigation cycle — at least for a few years.
Longbine says a lot of money is definitely needed, especially in the 2021 and 2022 academic years, but he says there shouldn’t be any issues fully funding education if the economy stays healthy. 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia agrees.
Other lawmakers are troubled by the financial aspect — nearly $1 billion in new spending over four years — and by the fact the Supreme Court is still overseeing the case. 51st District Representative Ron Highland of Wamego says lawmakers need to revisit that situation.
Both Highland and 76th District Representative Eric Smith of Burlington say spending cuts or tax increases for other key aspects of state government are possible, thanks to this ruling and other recent decisions on public education funding.
USD 253 administrators are conferring with the Kansas Association of School Boards, and official comment from the district may not come until early next week. However, other area district officials have offered their thoughts. USD 251 Superintendent Mike Mathes was unavailable for comment but reports USD 251 will be receiving an additional $154,000.
USD 252 Superintendent Mike Argabright says he is pleased with the work conducted by the legislature as the funding issue had several negative impacts on education throughout the state including a significant teacher shortage. He says the first major priority for the district now will be to increase the base pay for educators to help address the shortage.
Argabright says an additional priority will be to fill back many of the programs and positions lost over the past several years. According to Argabright, USD 252 will receive an additional $145,000.
Last year, the high court said the state had not adequately funded K-12 education despite legislation enacted both that year and in 2017 — although it said the state’s approach of returning to and fully funding the 2006 formula would suffice, provided it was properly funded. A later ruling said the state needed to resolve inflation concerns, which is where the $90 million per year over fours figure was reached.
Longbine hopes outcomes, learning experiences and test scores improve and the state does a better job of educating “the whole child,” while Schreiber says increasing teacher salaries should be a major point of emphasis. Highland is concerned about additional components added to school budgets, including vocational education, virtual schools, all-day kindergarten, preschool and social workers, and he says money is “not the total answer” to improved education. Smith, meanwhile, encourages people to pay attention to how districts are spending the money now in play.
