In a recent press release, the Kansas National Education Association complained that K-12 education is being funded at the 2006 level and stated that legislators should increase taxes to create more school funding.

"Part of the reason we're in this financial crisis is the irresponsible tax policy of state lawmakers who gave away billions in tax breaks and incentives," KNEA President Blake West said in the release. "We cannot continue to cut our way out of this financial crisis." 

The KNEA is stating that the recent allotments Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson made have created a situation in which K-12 is receiving the same amount of funds as it did in fiscal year 2006. However, a report released last Thursday by the Kansas Legislative Research Department illustrates that K-12 is, in fact, receiving much more this school year than it did in fiscal year 2006.

According to the report, K-12 will receive $3.04 billion in funding for fiscal year 2010, a number that includes the governor’s recent allotments. The report shows that in fiscal year 2006, schools received a total of $2.58 billion.

This demonstrates that schools are actually receiving $460 million more in funding than in 2006 when local, federal, state and stimulus funds are included.

Dale Dennis, deputy commissioner of education for the Kansas State Department of Education, said the discrepancy in reports is a result of the common practice of legislators and school advocates only citing the base state aid K-12 receives for gauging funding levels.

“They use general state aid, which is the primary operating fund,” Dennis told Kansas Liberty. “But they don’t use the total.”

For fiscal year 2010, with the recent allotments, schools will receive $4,012 per pupil in base state aid, the number that is always cited by school funding advocates.

But in total, students will receive $12,434 per student when including local, federal and state funding. In fiscal year 2006, K-12 received a total of $10,596 per student.

Schools are receiving a 5.3 percent funding decrease between fiscal years 2009 and 2010, but schools overall have received a massive funding increase since fiscal year 2005.

"State General Fund and federal economic stimulus funds from FY 2005 to the current level in FY 2010 (again, including both Governor’s allotments) have increased $730 million, or 31.6 percent,” the Kansas Legislative Research Department report said.

—Holly Smith

KNEA release

The Week in Review