No offense to Rep. Kent Thompson, but it’s somewhat disingenuous to say you voted for the school finance bill in order to keep the schools open.
That’s because the criteria necessary includes more equitable distribution of funds to the state’s K-12 schools, and, most likely, increased funding.
The bill passed last week contains only $2 million in additional funding and does not make the distribution of funds more equitable. So if the Kansas Supreme Court keeps its word, the legislation will not keep schools from closing on June 30.
Thompson knows this, of course, and is expecting to have to rework the bill when the legislature reconvenes April 27.
Which begs the question, if you know the work is substandard, why sign off on it?
THE EASIEST way to explain the new law is that it’s “smoke and mirrors,” as USD 257 Superintendent of Schools Jack Koehn said at Monday’s night school board meeting.
In effect, the law lowers the state’s contributions to a district’s local options budget, which is used for the purchase of instructional materials. The difference between the funding from the new formula against the old — about $100,000 for USD 257 — is then set-aside in a “hold harmless” account.
Districts are allowed to move these hold harmless funds over to their general fund. And if they do, the loss can be “backfilled” with an option to raise property taxes.
“Gee, thanks,” is the typical reply.
The legislation in no way adds more money to a local budget, but keeps the detrimental block grant funding pretty much as is.
All along, legislators have had the “safe harbor” option. That is, to return to the former equalization formula which, when fully funded, worked very well at giving school districts across the state fairly equitable and adequate funding.
Trouble is, legislators want to fund education with what fits their idea of a state budget; not what fits a good education.
And with dwindling state income, that picture gets increasingly grim.