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Dale Dennis of the Kansas State Department of Education shows Brownback’s education proposal represents a large cut in operational spending, but Sen. Ty Masterson, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means prefers to focus on overall spending. “Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed budget represents about a $127.4 million cut in schools’ regular K-12 operating funds from this fiscal year to next year, according to a report released Tuesday by the state Department of Education…Dale Dennis, deputy commissioner of education, said the $127 million-plus in cuts identified in the education department report represent money that goes to fund classroom education...

“’This has been tried in any number of states,” said [Bruce Baker, a school finance professor at Rutgers University who previously taught at The University of Kansas], who has testified in school funding lawsuits across the country and on behalf of the plaintiffs in Kansas’ ongoing school finance lawsuit, Gannon v. State. ‘Call it a different formula. Call it something structurally completely different, even if it’s not. Give it a new name. “That, he said, can be presented in court as an argument to dismiss a case — based on the idea that the formula specified in the...

Northeast Johnson County elected officials and education advocates shared their thoughts on the governor’s proposals, including his suggestion that the school finance formula be rewritten and his assertion that the state’s budget crisis is being fueled by education spending. Here’s what they had to say: Rep. Melissa Rooker (R), District 25: Many felt that the State of the State address on Thursday night was light on details and lacking in new ideas, however I was floored by a new storyline that emerged. The governor blamed the state’s fiscal crisis on the most vulnerable students in our state. By...