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Here’s how the block grant funding is working in Royal Valley. “The Royal Valley Board of Education is proposing a 5.322 mill increase for its 2016-2017 school budget to help offset a reduction in state aid due to the block grant budget formula… “Superintendent John Rundle explained to the board that the district was able to decrease the local mill levy last year due to the ruling of the Gannon vs. the State of Kansas court case, which required the state of Kansas to provide equity in state aid for the LOB. To provide that equity, the state...

We note that when other programs helping families are weakened, a greater burden falls on K-12 schools. “Shannon Cotsoradis, president of Kansas Action for Children, a nonprofit advocacy group, said in a statement that ‘Kansas children and families continue to foot the bill for an unsustainable tax plan.’” Read more here http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article29585017.html and here http://cjonline.com/news/2015-07-30/gov-sam-brownback-orders-626-million-state-budget-adjustments...

Some school funding critics like to claim that districts are choosing to operate inefficiently when they opt not to implement all of the savings recommended by the Legislative Post Audit Committee. This story provides an example of choices a district makes that are not frivolous and should not be equated with choosing to operate inefficiently. “The audit also recommends Auburn-Washburn expand its use of procurement cards — credit cards issued by the district to employees to cover supply and travel costs. Since the cards come with a 1 percent cash-back rate, using them for more purchases could generate...