Finding the Funding

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Oct. 2 that funding for education in Kansas is unconstitutional. The court’s decision in Gannon vs. Kansas said Kansas failed to provide funding necessary for success in the school system and funds overall weren’t equdally distributed between districts. According to the Kansas Supreme Court, Kansas has failed to provide funding necessary for success in the school system. On top of this, the funding isn’t equally distributed throughout the districts.

Currently, the state funds $4,006 per pupil. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Richard Atha believes the state legislatures should fund up to at least $4,440 per pupil, which was the funding Kansas had before the recession. Blue Valley and De Soto School Districts received 2 million combined in extra funding to serve low income families, but no other district did even though many are in similar situations.

Due to a lack of funding, the SMSD’s infrastructure has suffered over time according to Dr. Atha. The district has had to make severe cuts from closing buildings to only cleaning the buildings every other day.

For 12 out of the last 15 years, Kansas hasn’t be constitutionally compliant, meaning they have been underfunded in education according to the Kansas City Star. Revenue for education decreased in 2008 due to the recession because of tax cuts initiated by Governor Sam Brownback. Representative Melissa Rooker said there was an understanding within the legislature that when the economy recovered, Kansas would get back to proper funding, but that did not happen.

“Brownback was elected and choices were made early in his term of governor that …. instead of getting back on the path complying with the [proper funding] and restoring funding, we continued to shortchange our schools,” Rooker said.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer will be taking over as governor for the remainder of Brownback’s term and he is accepting the position of Ambassador at Large for International Freedom, creating the possibility for change.

Colyer has reached out and is talking to a lot of different legislators and trying to communicate that he wants to collaborate with them and work to solve some of the budget issues according to Rooker.

“Whether his policy outlook will differ from Brownback’s is what I don’t know,” Rooker said. “But I do know the tone is different already.”

Teachers used to have five classes and two planning periods. Due to a round of budget cuts three years ago that was changed to teachers starting to having six classes and one planning period so other programs could have funding, and School board candidate Mary Sinclair hopes to restore that along with adding more counselors.

“If we can get back to adequate funding levels, then maybe we can get teachers back to a workload that’s more reasonable and allows [teachers] to be more responsive,” Sinclair said.

The legislature must have a plan by April 30, 2018, and the court will rule on June 30, 2018. The plan most likely will result in additional funding for the school, but there are a lot of unknowns. Until the plan goes through and there is a full budget plan the changes aren’t clear.

School board candidate Mandi Hunter believes that adequately funded education would mean smaller class sizes and continued funding of programs that are in place. Hunter said they are going to make sure there is money going towards at risk students.

In order to properly fund the schools according to the ruling, Kansas legislature will have to find funding. According to Atha, funding could be raised for schools through raising taxes, getting rid of tax exemptions from schools and churches, or making cuts from police and fire. From Representative Bollier’s end, she doesn’t see taxes being raised or cuts being made but it’s a possibility.

“[More funding for education] pays for itself,” Sinclair said. “If we are worried about the economics of it, it pays for itself. And then some. It’s a very sound investment.”

Funding hasn’t been restored because getting the majority on board is hard to achieve and it’s complex to get the votes needed to Bollier.

The 2017-2018 school year budget is not affected by the ruling according to Atha. East could see a change in school life as early as next year due to the possibility of additional funding, but it is unclear what those changes will be until the legislature gives the district a dollar amount according to Atha. Sinclair hopes that wifi issues and constant temperature throughout the school could be solved with extra funding. Until legislators give schools an exact number there is a lot of uncertainty what the schools will be able to change according to Atha.

“No kid is more important than another kid. All kids are important,” Atha said. “It’s all important. That’s what the Supreme Court is saying. All kids deserve an equal opportunity for an education and education needs to be adequately funded in order to meet the State constitution.”