Despite a massive infusion of money into the state's education budget since 2005, 31 Kansas school districts and 139 schools failed to meet the Annual Yearly Progress standards mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act for the 2007-2008 testing cycle, according to the Kansas State Department of Education.

Among the failing schools were those in districts represented by legislators who have fought hardest for education funding increases in the years since the 2005 special session, called to respond to the state Supreme Court's order to increase spending on education.

Salina, Topeka and Kansas City, for example, are all represented on the list of sub-standard schools. Most legislators from those areas voted in favor of the spending hikes.

In Wichita, represented by Republican Sen. Jean Schodorf, chair of the Senate Education Committee and an active backer of funding increases, 24 primary, middle and secondary schools are failing to meet AYP standards.

In Hugoton, the school district represented by Senate President Steve Morris, a Republican who helped engineer the 2005 funding increases, the middle school failed to meet the minimums.

Despite the claims made when spending increases were made mandatory by the courts, it's not clear that there is a relationship between the schools that failed to meet the AYP standards and the level of funding they received. Out of the 31 school districts which did not make the grade, only four did not receive an increase in funding for the 2006-2007 school year.

In some districts, spending decreased, but the districts still met AYP minimums.

The other 27 school districts received per-pupil increases ranging from a half a percent to 22.46 percent. Kansas City's USD 500 received the greatest increase in funding for the 2006-2007 school year with an overall total expenditure increase of $43,447,541 or a per pupil increase of $2,557.

Although a few districts experienced a decrease in funding, the majority of districts received an increase over funding levels from the previous year. Critics charge that the impact of the funding is deflected by spending on non-classroom budget items, especially administrative costs.

'No correlation between spending and outcomes'

Rep. Mike O’Neal, a Republican, said he did not expect Kansas to be any different from other states where research has shown there is no correlation between student outcomes and spending. O'Neal is from Hutchinson, where the schools received a funding increase, but failed to meet the AYP standards.

“At some level dollars do matter,” O’Neal told Kansas Liberty. “However Kansas was well above the national norm in terms of per pupil funding. I’ve yet to see direct correlation between increased spending and outcomes.”

O’Neal said he didn’t think the NCLB progress tests showed accurate portrayals of student achievement.

“Teachers are frustrated that they’re teaching to the test,” O’Neal said. “I’m less interested in how students score on assessments than in whether they’re retaining what they’ve learned for more than two or three years. Simply scoring well on the NCLB assessment doesn’t mean we’re producing young people with job skills.” 

Rep. Bill Light, R-Rolla, has been a firm supporter of increasing school funding in the past and said he thought there was a correlation between funding and academic achievement. Light has been active in helping push spending increases through the Legislature.

“I think there is a relationship there, but, of course, it depends on who is doing the measuring,” Light told Kansas Liberty. “But if you look at Kansas schools, I believe that what we have accomplished in the last few years with funding is that the at-risk students are starting to get more attention paid to them and a better chance for them to succeed.”

According to KSDE, the Rolla School District, USD 217, experienced a decrease of 8.32 percent per pupil for the 2006-2007 school year - yet still met the AYP requirements. 

Good teachers can make the difference

Rolla School District Superintendent Richard Spencer said he thought the district’s teachers were the main reason for why the AYP standards were able to be met despite the decrease in funding.

“It took a lot of hard work and understanding by all the staff and really doing what they think is best for all the kids, and if that means providing a little more assistance before or after school during those times when they aren’t even getting paid, the staff is willing to do that little extra,” Spencer told Kansas Liberty. “They may not get recognized financially for it but they are willing to help kids despite the funding and resources available.”

Spencer said he addresses decreases in funding by carefully looking at where the existing funding goes.

“It’s a matter of making sure the majority of the money that is spent goes to the students as much as possible,” he said. “And I’m a really firm believer of why hire new teachers if looking down the road you are going to have to let them go anyway.”

Spencer said he did feel there was some correlation between school funding and academic achievement and thought extra funding could be especially beneficial in providing support for at-risk students who struggle with the state assessments.

But Light said though he still felt school funding was important, he may not be as supportive in the upcoming legislative session when it comes to increasing school funding. Among other concerns, Light said he's considering the current state of the economy.  

“I am going into the next session thinking about the entire state budget as opposed to just looking at the health of school funding,” he said. “And this is just because the shortfall of revenue means we will have less dollars to go around and it would be our responsibility to really spend those dollars wisely.”

Officials pointed out that overall, nine of ten Kansas schools reached the AYP standards, up slightly from last year, when 89 percent of schools made the grade.

“The good news is that more Kansas schools are achieving their goals in reading and mathematics," said Kansas Commissioner of Education, Dr. Alexa Posny, in the KSDE report. "This is true even though these same goals have increased substantially over last year. By a persistent focus on academic standards, Kansas educators are clearly meeting the challenge of educating all students to high academic levels."

Since the NCLB Act was initiated in 2001, public school funding in Kansas has steadily increased each year, with the largest increase of 9.16 percent per pupil occurring in the 2005-2006 school year, closely trailed by the 9.08 percent increase in the 2006-2007 school year.

- Holly Smith

Resources

• Kansas Department of Education: http://www.ksde.org
• Schools failing to meet AYP standards: http://kwch.images.worldnow.com/images/incoming/pdfs/08ayp.pdf
• No Child Left Behind: http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml

The Week in Review