Kansas Legislation Aims to Change Education Funding

There has been a wave of house bills in the Kansas Legislature concerning public education introduced in the last year. If passed, these bills would affect funding in schools, and possibly the future of Shawnee Mission East students.

House Bill (HB) 2350 stops any school from applying for any federal funding except for food service programs. This bill is opposed by Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD), because federal funding provides a lot of funding to the district, which would be lost if this bill was passed. Principal Dr. Krawitz believes that this bill is part of a push from a group of legislators in Topeka to move towards an education voucher system for funding education.

“The government will say we don’t have enough money for schools, so let’s give every family in Kansas a [voucher] check for $3,500, and they can go to any school they want,” Dr. Krawitz said.

While education vouchers give parents and students the money to find the school that best fits their needs, it generally takes away from the funding and enrollment in public schools. House Representative Melissa Rooker feels that this bill, among others, is an effort to move away from federal government control in schools, and towards state control.

“Last year, the federal aid for SMSD alone was $18,000,000,” Rooker said. “It would take a tax increase to fill that gap, and there is zero willingness to increase taxes. If passed there would be severe cuts to services in schools.”

In addition to HB 2350, there is another bill, HB 2236 that has been introduced that would affect the funding and budgets of public schools, the bill provides state funded scholarship for special education students to attend private schools. Under this bill, a special education student could attend a private school, and funding for the district would be reduced by the amount of that scholarship.

“[HB 2236] allows parents to move any student on an Individual Education Plan,” Rooker said. “It would decimate public school budgets.”

Both HB 2250 and HB 2236 have not yet been sent from the Committee of Education to be voted on by the full House of Representatives. So, the immediate impact of these bills is still unknown, however definite funding cuts will occur.

Dr. Krawitz feels that students should understand that the current legislature in Topeka will likely change the landscape of schooling in Kansas.

“The next two years could be very scary years for public education in this state,” Krawitz said.