K-12 funding must meet diverse needs of students

Workforce and quality of life are critical issues to the future growth of our community, local businesses and recruitment efforts. When businesses are making expansion or relocation decisions, the quality of public schools is a key consideration.

The Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce is committed to supporting high quality K-12 public schools. With some critical decisions expected soon on school finance in Kansas, we felt it important to make sure the voice of business is heard on this issue.

More than half of the student body of Wichita USD 259 represent minorities. In addition, more than three-quarters of them qualify for free or reduced-priced meals. Our students speak more than 114 languages and come from 110 countries of birth.

This richly diverse student body reflects changing demographics across our state. We believe a school finance formula that meets the needs of USD 259 will actually meet the needs of schools statewide.

The block grant system utilized the past two years has been particularly hard on growing, urban districts like Wichita. A new formula should establish a foundation that is adequate to meet the diverse needs of students. The chamber believes a new formula must also address the following points:

▪  Foundational aid should be adequate. It’s imperative to fund the classroom, a well-rounded curriculum, career or college preparation, extra-curricular activities, increased teacher salaries, support personnel who assist in educational process, equipment and technology as well as supplies and utilities. An annual inflation factor should be included.

▪  Students who have unique learning needs require additional resources. Targeting scarce resources to groups who struggle academically, compared to their peers, is a logical method to disperse funds.

▪  Additional support for poverty and non-English speaking students should be reinstated.

▪  Funding for special education should be honored at the statutory level. Families of severely disabled children tend to relocate to urban areas for access to medical facilities. It’s a federal and state mandate that special educational services must be provided.

▪  Emotional and mental health issues need to be addressed. These issues impact families and the ability of students to focus and learn. This is a growing social issue that cannot be ignored in a school funding formula.

The Wichita Chamber has long been an advocate for a strong public education system. In 2016, the chamber put even greater focus on this area by creating a new task force, giving the business community a stronger voice on education issues, particularly at the state level. The Education Policy Task Force is co-chaired by Walter Berry, who also chairs the chamber’s Government Relations Committee, and by Lyndon Wells, who also co-chairs the Business and Education Alliance.

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 5:04 AM with the headline "K-12 funding must meet diverse needs of students."