“Voters must be baffled by competing claims regarding the funding of K-12 public schools in Kansas. The Brownback administration says it is going up; most everybody else says it is going down. “Does the truth lie somewhere in the middle? We simply would say: No. “Gov. Sam Brownback and the conservative lawmakers who approved austere budgets in an attempt to balance the effects caused by massive cuts in personal and business income tax don’t like to talk about base state aid per pupil, which has dropped 12.5 percent since 2009. “Per-pupil spending has declined 14.6 percent between 2009...
Read more
Leave a Comment Blog
Kansas on financial path leading backwards
“A quick run through the numbers: In the just completed fiscal year 2014, state revenue dropped $688 million from the year before, and Kansas spent $329 million more than it took in. Now, three months into fiscal year 2015, revenue remains below last year’s levels, placing the state on a track to spend more than $650 million above receipts. Except, that cannot happen. The state’s savings account does not have enough money left to cover the difference between rising expenses and falling revenue… “Other states ask: ‘How can we invest to make our schools the best?’ while in...
Read more
Leave a Comment USD 308 Superintendent warns of looming cuts
Those of us paying attention see cuts to education looming after the election. Kansans need to have their eyes wide open like this superintendent who has verbalized what many are feeling. “In a video seen by all USD 308 employees on Friday, Hutchinson School Superintendent Shelly Kiblinger said she expects mid-year cuts in state funding because state revenues aren’t meeting expectations. Kiblinger said that although USD 308 has already planned for those cuts this year and expects to be able to ride them out ‘with no significant disruptions,’ she expects cuts to continue in 2015-16, when she estimates the...
Read more
Leave a Comment Former budget director warns time to foreclose on fiscal experiment
Former budget director for Republican and Democratic governors, Duane Goossen, warns it’s time to foreclose on the “fiscal experiment”. These figures represent future challenges for Kansas school districts. “That promise has not been borne out by the results so far: Revenue fell $688 million in fiscal year 2014. In the first three months of FY 2015, revenue has continued to go lower. The state’s savings account has been emptied out to pay for the growing imbalance between revenue and expenses. Kansas faces a financial crisis that imperils education and other vital services. “So now the promise has changed...
Read more
Leave a Comment