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“The underperforming revenue, coupled with previous bad economic news, present short- and long-term challenges for school funding as Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax cuts reduce one of the major streams of revenue to the state…Currently, the state is looking at a revenue shortfall by July 2016 of $238 million, according to the Kansas Legislative Research Department. “In the world of Kansas government, $238 million is nothing to sneeze at. That is roughly the annual appropriation made by the Legislature to the University of Kansas, or the annual amount of state funds going to the Shawnee-Mission and Blue Valley...

“’It’s doing something important, [KPERS is] part of funding, but to say ‘Well, money went up there, so you shouldn’t have to worry about classroom expenses,’ that breaks down,’ says Mark Tallman. ‘He says when you take out things like KPERS, some building funding and certain other spending you can get a better idea of classroom funding. When you add up classroom spending from the state, local taxes and the federal government, many schools are still in a tight spot. “Tallman says under that measure, total classroom funding in Kansas is up since 2009. It dipped during the...