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If you’re looking at school funding numbers for your district, make sure you know what you’re seeing. “For 2015-16, the district is looking at a maximum budget authority of $8,561,200, while in 2014-15, the budget authority was $6,080,316. However, [Jackson Heights Superintendent Adrianne] Walsh pointed out that the increase does not mean the district is getting any ‘new money.’ “’My general fund looks like it is gaining around $900,000, but that is not true,’ she said. ‘Under the block grant, KPERS and Special Education aid, which is flow-through money that we pay out immediately, is going into the...

Whether you are a parent, teacher, business leader or anyone else who cares about the future of Kansas, the climate for teachers should concern you. This Washington Post piece connects the dots. Read the whole piece, but this quote from an educator’s blog is interesting. “Kansas has taken a bold new step in making their schools Even Worse…. Kansas has entered the Chase Teachers Out of The State derby, joining states like North Carolina and Arizona in the attempt to make teaching unappealing as a career and untenable as a way for grown-ups to support a family. Kansas...

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...