Block-grant school funding bill could be approved quickly

A bill that would make major changes in how the state pays for schools could become law as early as the end of this week.

A House panel advanced it Tuesday as some lawmakers voiced concern that it was moving too quickly.

Republican lawmakers introduced the bill on Thursday. It replaces the state’s current school finance system with block grants for the next two years with the stated goal of creating a new formula by 2017.

The legislation would reduce most districts’ funding for the current year but would give them more flexibility on how to spend state dollars.

Before advancing the bill, the House Appropriations Committee took its contents and stuffed them into SB 7. The procedural move, known as a “gut and go,” speeds up the legislative process.

If the House passes the bill, the Senate could concur on it. Senators would be unable to offer amendments, and an up-or-down vote would send it to the governor’s desk.

Democrats loudly voiced their displeasure with the fast-tracking of the bill a day after hearings on it began.

“Trickery, trickery, trickery,” said Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, D-Kansas City.

“I’m pretty sure school boards spent the whole weekend … looking at this bill. And then to have it rushed through in 24 hours is ridiculous. It’s probably one of the biggest decisions we make this year, and it certainly commanded a little more time and attention than what we gave it,” Wolfe Moore said. “This is just a way to speed the bill through with less eyes on it.”

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said in an afternoon news conference that the move was meant to stifle debate in the Senate.

Rep. Ron Ryckman Jr., R-Olathe, the bill’s co-author and the committee’s chairman, said Gov. Sam Brownback first presented the concept of the block grant in January and there are still opportunities to change it.

“The product is here. We had a chance to read it all weekend. We took a full day of hearings. …We’ll still have the opportunity to look at it before it goes on the floor,” Ryckman said. “When it’s on the floor, it can still be amended there.”

Ryckman said the bill provided school districts “with more flexibility, more freedom … and provided a way for more money to get into the classroom.”

The governor’s office sent a message to supporters indicating strong support for the bill, saying that it will “ensure that our educational system is not held hostage by a formula that punishes school districts for things that are out of their control, including changing demographics and numbers of students.”

Bill’s supporters

Rep. Don Hill, R-Emporia, rebuked fellow GOP lawmakers for “ramming through” the legislation without the support of school districts.

The Wichita school board unanimously opposes the legislation, which would result in a $4.8 million cut in the current year. Other districts have also voiced opposition. Some Johnson County districts have expressed guarded support but have not openly lobbied for the bill.

“It’s very troubling to me that we are moving on this and moving with such haste,” Hill said.

“When I try to assess this bill – its motivation, its impact – I’m struck by who the proponents are for this bill,” Hill continued.

The only three organizations to testify in favor of the bill Monday were the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Policy Institute and Kansans for Liberty, all groups with an anti-tax stance.

George Griffith, superintendent for Trego schools, said Monday that many business owners, the biggest beneficiaries of an educated workforce, are not paying income taxes to help support the state’s education system.

The state faces an estimated $600 million budget shortfall. Lawmakers are divided on whether the shortfall is caused by unsustainable spending – on education in particular – or by tax cuts, which include exempting certain business owners from paying income taxes.

Hill honed in on this point and contended that the chamber’s support for the bill stemmed from a desire to protect business interests rather than from a concern for students. He noted that he had previously served on the Emporia Chamber of Commerce, which he said gives him insight into the state chamber’s motivations.

Mike O’Neal, the chamber’s president, said that Hill must not have been listening to his testimony on Monday.

O’Neal said his organization’s support of the school funding change has nothing to do with taxes but rather stems from a belief that the current system does not put enough money into the classroom.

He said the block grant would free up money to be spent in the classroom that now goes to other purposes.

“Our members aren’t just these faceless businesses ... they’re real people with real concerns,” he added.

Pension funds

The bill, as amended Tuesday, would end the block grant system after the 2016-17 school year. There would be no school finance system in law after that point.

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Luray, who offered the amendment, said this would put pressure on lawmakers to create a new formula, the stated purpose of moving to block grants.

Hill said there was a simpler solution that would be less disruptive to school districts: Pass a bill that keeps the current formula but gives it a definite end date, which would put the same pressure on lawmakers.

Rep. Jerry Lunn, R-Overland Park, disagreed. He called the block grants “a perfect bridge to the future.”

Democrats also opposed the inclusion of pension funds as part of the block grants. While the block grants have been touted as a way to give school districts more flexibility with spending, the pension money, which makes up the bulk of the funding increase in the next two years, is not flexible.

Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, called the inclusion of pension funds disingenuous, since the bill keeps the money districts use for daily operations mostly flat after the reduction this year.

But Rep. Amanda Grosserode, R-Lenexa, said pension funds should be seen as a daily operational expense.

“You don’t have a teacher in that classroom teaching students without a pension,” she said.

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Block-grant school funding bill could be approved quickly."