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“Total state aid for Lawrence would go up in the 2015-2016 school year to about $70.3 million, but nearly all of the increase would be for increased contributions to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, and increased funding for the district’s virtual school. “For the 2016-2017 school year, Lawrence would get another $1.2 million increase, nearly all of which would be for increased KPERS contributions. “Furthermore, because the new formula would no longer be based on per-pupil funding, there would be no automatic increase in funding if the district’s enrollment grows over the next two years. The only...

The block grant proposal cuts operational budgets for many districts and would force some to raise their mill levies, which would be a further move towards shifting tax burdens in Kansas from income tax to property tax. “Shawnee County school districts appear poised to lose millions of dollars in operational and maintenance funds under a bill that would replace the state’s school finance formula with block grants… “’We believe, from what we know, that it’s going to be a net loss of $400,000′ for Auburn-Washburn Unified School District 437, superintendent Brenda Dietrich said… According to The Topeka Capital-Journal’s...

“Wichita schools would see about $4.8 million less this school year under the Republican-backed school finance bill unveiled this week than under the current school funding plan, according to the Kansas Department of Education…Mark Tallman, associate executive director of the Kansas Association of School Boards, explained the situation to school officials from around the state in a webinar Friday. “’The budget you adopted based on current law … that formula is changed in the bill, so you will not get as much as you were expecting and it’s that reduced amount that is going forward,’ Tallman said… “’It...