“What does the recent decision to fund schools using a block grant system say about the health of Kansas? The block grant is not a grant at all; rather, it is a cut to essential revenue we count on to fund schools across the state. The block grant left us dealing with a $500,000 reduction in the current fiscal year. The block grant means we won’t receive additional funds for the increase in enrollment we experienced this year, nor for any increases in the next two years. KCKPS has grown between 200 and 800 students a year for...
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Skyline seeking relief from emergency fund
Skyline Superintendent Mike Sanders “has requested that the State Finance Council consider providing $118,000 from the Extraordinary Needs Fund to help cover that amount that was taken out of the current school budget from the Local Option Budget and Capital Outlay state aid. “Without this $118,000, USD 438 employees will not receive a June paycheck…The district has no way to generate funds to cover the loss because the mil levy was locked in at the August budget hearing. The LOB has also maxed out at 33 percent for the current school year. The district has also been operating...
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Leave a Comment SBOE delaying decision on uncertified teachers indefinitely
Here’s a report from KASB on the SBOE’s decision to put off a vote on the use of non-certified teachers indefinitely. A proposal to allow the state’s innovative districts to hire non-licensed people to teach was sent back for more work on Thursday after numerous educators spoke against the plan. Even before teachers, higher education officials and school advocates voiced disapproval of the measure to the State Board of Education, the board put off a vote on the proposal indefinitely. Board Chairman Jim McNiece said he wants the leaders of innovative school districts to meet with the deans...
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Leave a Comment KPI distributing misleading information on funding
From our friends at Schools for Fair Funding: Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) is distributing charts and figures that are misleading. For increases for schools in a three year period KPI uses 2013-14 as the base year to compute increases. This is before the court ordered increase in equalization adopted LAST year. This is not a result of the block grant and to infer otherwise is misleading....
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