Gov. Sam Brownback’s decision to reduce school funding for the current year by $28 million, or 1.5 percent, after previous promises to safeguard education dollars has sparked debate.

Some lawmakers and residents have expressed anger over the cut to the schools’ current-year budget, but others agree with the governor that school spending ought to be reined in and say this offers an opportunity to reform the state’s school finance formula.
Here are some numbers to consider when discussing school funding.

$3,811

That’s the amount of base state aid per pupil after the governor’s reduction, a decrease of about $41 from what was budgeted for the current year and a decrease of $27 from what was budgeted last year. This number does not reflect the amount of aid schools get per child but rather the number that is plugged into the school finance formula to determine how much aid each district receives.

Base aid peaked at $4,400 per student in 2009. In December, a three-judge panel ruled the state was unconstitutionally underfunding schools and recommended that base aid should be increased to nearly $5,000.

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