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O’Brien: Broken funding formula and necessary corrections

By Rep. Connie O'Brien, R-Tonganoxie - | May 12, 2015

Kaitlyn Syring

Kansas Rep. Connie O'Brien speaks at Friday at the first of the Leavenworth County chambers of commerce legislative updates.

I would like to start by saying that I have supported increased education funding at every opportunity since I first was elected in 2008. Last April, I supported the bill that put an additional $126.2 million into schools statewide for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014.

Gov. Brownback signed that school funding increase into law. What happened next caught everyone by surprise.

The actual dollars approved by the Legislature were inflated by a broken, unpredictable and highly litigated school finance formula. Without regard to the actual dollar amount approved by legislators, the school finance formula acted like yeast in a batch of dough. The formula magically raised the dough and the Department of Education told schools they would be receiving approximately $200 million — $63 million more than the actual amount approved by legislators.

The state had no choice but to correct the mistake in order to keep the rest of the state’s finances under control. Several school board members and administrators are currently meeting to discuss school budgets. They too must make adjustments.

Look at it this way. If an employer agreed to increase her employees’ salaries by 10 percent but the accountant accidentally raised salaries by 20 percent, would she be cutting her employee’s salary by correcting the mistake? No, she’s acting on her original intent. She must consider the rest of the needs of her business. In 2014, legislators approved an increase of $126.2 million in education funding and now, despite the formula fiasco, legislators have increased the originally approved amount by an additional 13 percent. When everything is said and done with the budget this year, the difference will be $48 million. Schools will get $15 million more than what the Legislature voted on, even after correcting the problem created by the formula.

I understand why school administrators are upset. Anyone would be upset if they were forced to deal with inaccurate figures created by a broken formula. That’s the frustration lawmakers felt when they discovered that the approved increase in spending had been artificially inflated by a broken and outdated funding formula. How can legislators do their job of appropriating funds if the numbers are constantly changing due to factors outside of their control?

That’s why the old formula had to go. The block grants will give districts new and unprecedented authority over how their dollars are spent. Under the block grant bill, education spending in Kansas will top $4 billion next year, a historic and record amount of state money dedicated solely to teaching our kids. Funding will continue to increase after that.

K-12 education funding in Kansas has never been higher. The SB7 Block Grant Legislation will increase funding to schools by $300 million by fiscal year 2016-17. Those increases are based on complying with the court-ordered local option budget and capital outlay requirements. Much of the money schools receive under the block grant is designated for KPERS, the retirement plans for school employees. Schools cannot attract and retain quality teachers without offering valuable benefits such as pensions. The Supreme Court said in the Gannon decision that retirement plans qualify as a classroom expense. If the state did not pay KPERS, that payment would fall to the districts. By passing this bill, the Legislature has also provided the two years needed to develop, test and approve a new school finance formula, which will assure a quality education for each Kansas student.

There’s been a lot of misinformation concerning school funding. Despite the fact that education funding has increased in Kansas for the past four years, many claim that education spending is being cut. Not so.

There are two differing definitions. The traditional definition is that education dollar amounts going up means that money increases. Dollar amounts going down means there are financial cuts.

School Finance Formula (supporters’ definition is that education dollars go up but less than desired translates to budget cuts.

LOCAL SCHOOL FUNDING FACTS

(Numbers do not include federal or local funding)

• USD 449 Easton

2013-14: $5,442,455

Block grant: 2014-15, $5,545,307;

2015-16, $5,565,765;

2016-17 $5,660,406.

• USD 464 Tonganoxie

2013-14: $11,464,045

Block grant: 2014-15, $12,286,967;

2015-16, $12,551,244;

2016-17 $12,749,393.

• USD 491 Eudora

2013-14: $9,921,106

Block grant: 2014-15, $10,725,651;

2015-16, $10,982,752;

2016-17 $11,167,023.

• USD 453 Leavenworth

2013-14: $26,696,001

Block grant: 2014-15, $28,156,283;

2015-16, $29,306,962;

2016-17, $29,963,837.

• USD 469 Lansing

2013-14: $14,917,277

Block grant: 2014-15 $15,768,929

2015-16 $16,109,813

2016-17 $16,364,584

• USD 458 Basehor-Linwood

2013-14: $12,805,977

Block grant: 2014-15, $13,744,282;

2015-16, $14,109,063;

2016-17, $14,307,632.

• USD 207 Fort Leavenworth

2013-14- $8,755,061

Block grant: 2014-15, $8,126,869;

2015-16 $8,409,654;

2016-17 $8,502,827.

— Connie O’Brien, R-Tonganoxie, represents the 41st District in the Kansas House of Representatives.