“‘The accounting is very misleading. … You can’t just look at the bottom-line number – or in this case the top-line number,’ board member Lynn Rogers said.

“’We aren’t getting more money under block grants, on anyone’s estimation, if you look at it.’

“The district projects spending nearly $647 million next fiscal year – about $4 million more than last year, said chief financial officer Jim Freeman.

“But because of increased fixed costs and ‘flow-through’ expenses, such as retirement payments to teachers, what looks like a budget increase is a decrease in money to classrooms, he said.”

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article29082265.html