Brownback fields questions on school funding overhaul

Gov. Sam Brownback fielded questions Thursday on the state’s overhaul to education funding for the first time since signing a bill last week that shifts school funding to block grants.

Brownback first offered the idea in his State of the State address in January and signed the bill last week in a closed ceremony. The legislation reduces overall education funding for the current year and has already been challenged in court by attorneys representing Wichita and other districts.

The bill restores a $28 million statewide cut to K-12 funding that went into effect in March, but reduces money meant to address funding gaps between districts, known as equalization aid, by $51 million. That means some districts, such as Wichita, are affected more than others, while others see no funding reduction.

“When our board adopted our budget last August, it adopted it with the rules that are in place and since then they’ve changed the rules,” said Diane Gjerstad, lobbyist for the Wichita school district.

Wichita will receive about $7.7 million less than it planned when it adopted its budget in August and $4.8 million less than it would have had lawmakers taken no action after the March cuts.

“It will be a big increase from what they got the year before,” Brownback responded.

He said that even after the reductions to equalization aid, school districts are set to receive more money this year than they would others.

State funding to all schools was $3.82 billion in the 2013-2014 school year. Even after the Legislature’s moves it rises to $3.98 billion this year. Brownback acknowledged this was in large part because of a Kansas Supreme Court decision last year that called for the state to address gaps between districts.

Brownback also added that with the block grants the Legislature “freed up the silos” and that most school districts should still be in good shape. Districts will be able to spend money currently earmarked for building maintenance, for example, on teachers’ salaries if they so choose.

“They’ll have more ability to manage the funds,” he said. “Now I don’t know what a particular district may decide to do or not do. … They’re going to have to manage their own district. I mean, do they decide to put it into teachers or buildings?”

Two school districts, Concordia and Twin Valley, announced plans this week to end their school years a week and two weeks early due to budget constraints.

The overall funding rises to $4.1 billion next year and $4.17 billion the year after. These figures include dollars spent on teachers’ pensions, which will not be flexible and cannot go toward operational costs.

The Wichita school district will receive a net increase of $26 million between the 2013-2014 school year and the 2016-2017 school year, according to the Kansas Division of Budget. However, pension funds make up more than half of that amount.

Gjerstad said the pension money is important, but she also said “those are not dollars that can be used to pay teachers’ salaries, pay utilities or pay for technology in the classroom.”

Brownback said he is looking forward to developing a new formula and noted that Sen. Steve Abrams, R-Arkansas City, has already offered a plan. Abrams’ plan ties district funding partially to students’ post-graduation success.

Brownback said that in his opinion the state should consider revising its formula every five years.

This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Brownback fields questions on school funding overhaul."