Be wary of people talking about increases in school funding under the block grants and help your friends understand the reality of school funding now. This article about the Lawrence school district budget is one example of how comparisons between last year and this year are problematic.
“The publication includes a side-by-side comparison with last year’s budget, but Johnson said the comparison — which indicates an approximately $20 million increase in total expenditures — is skewed by the inclusion of money that wasn’t previously moved through the general operating fund, such as state aid to the Kansas Retirement System for Public Employees, the state’s pension plan. That money is just transferred through and is not available for operating expenses, Johnson explained.
“’We don’t really have any new money to speak of,’ she said.
“Owing to those additions, school board members approved the publication of the proposed budget while some voiced trepidation. School board member Shannon Kimball said that because the comparison is not ‘apples to apples,’ the publication of the proposed budget doesn’t create the transparency that is intended.
“’It’s no wonder that there’s so much ammunition out there for people that are misusing this information,’ Kimball said.”
Read more here: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/jul/27/proposed-district-budget-has-first-propery-increas/