Expanded Kindergarten, Continued Litigation Define Kansas Education Landscape

TOPEKA, Kan. — Following a sweeping 2012 income tax cut and a period of education funding austerity that has stressed the Kansas public school system, Gov. Sam Brownback announced in December plans for a five-year, $80 million investment in full-day kindergarten. Amidst ongoing education funding litigation, it seems this new proposal may help the governor, lawmakers and education advocates find common ground.

In a statement, the governor called the kindergarten expansion plan “a strategic investment in helping our children be better prepared for success in school.” He added that numerous studies show that all-day kindergarten results in students who are more involved, productive and ready to read at appropriate grade levels.

“It’s a key area for investment in students,” said the governor, “and I’m going to endorse that in my budget and propose that we start building it up a 10th a year.”

Education Commissioner Diane DeBacker added her support for the governor’s plan. “I am extremely pleased with Governor Brownback’s announcement to recommend funding for all-day kindergarten for Kansas children,” said DeBacker. “This increased funding to Kansas schools will give much-needed relief to those districts already funding all-day kindergarten but, most importantly, give all of our youngest students the opportunity to attend school. Investment in early learning for our children will reap tremendous benefits in the years to come.”

The state currently provides free half-day programs to all 286 school districts, and would increase them to full-day programs incrementally over the next five years. Those 251 counties already providing free full-day classes must supplement their funding to do so. An additional 20 districts charge parents from $270 to upwards of $1,300 per semester for the full-day option. Only 15 districts have yet to offer optional full-day programs. The newly proposed kindergarten funding initiative is anticipated to cost the state, which already invests roughly $3 billion in education annually, an additional$16 million per year over the course of five years.

In December, the governor also released a statement on the current economy, noting that the state’s post-recession economic health is improving. It highlighted a five-year low in unemployment rates, partially crediting his across-the-board income tax relief. The governor concluded his statement saying, “Our record job and revenue growth, declining unemployment and sound fiscal management ensure that we have the resources to make the strategic investments in education and public safety that benefit all Kansans.”

In the 2011-2012 school year, total enrollment at Kansas public schools averaged around 483,000 students, making it the 33rd largest school system in the country for that same year. The state ranked 33rd in per-student expenditures for that same year, investing roughly 12 percent less per student than the national average in K-12 public school students, according to a Rankings & Estimates report published by the National Education Association in 2012. In dollars, Kansas has reduced funding by an estimated $950 per student since 2008, third in cuts only to Wisconsin and Alabama. The state’s 2014 budget has earmarked just over $4,800 per pupil.

In September 2013, a survey published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed Kansas had instituted the fourth deepest public education funding cuts in the nation since the onset of the recession. The state has trimmed 16.5 percent off its education budget since 2008 when adjusted for inflation, according to the center.

Despite Gov. Brownback’s recent commitment to expanding kindergarten programs, higher education institutions also continue to grapple with funding cuts. Kansas colleges and universities are already dealing with a 3 percent budget decrease, which came into effect in 2013 and continues in 2014, totaling around $36 million in funding losses for 2013. In 2008, funding levels for the state’s colleges and universities averaged $828 million. In the current fiscal year, the state spent roughly $750 million on these same institutions. The $77 million funding loss forced several public schools to raise tuition by as much as 37 percent. Kansas University even considered closing a medical school campus in the face of these budget losses.

Despite the existing cuts, a number of lawmakers are currently reviewing these figures in preparation for the upcoming budget. Lawmakers toured several of the state’s largest universities in November 2013, conducting a shrewd review of their return on investment. The legislators asked colleges and universities to provide information on tuition rates, the economic impact of research, current per-student expenditures and productivity measurement tools, cautioning that further cuts may follow based on the outcome of pending school funding litigation.

While colleges and universities work to preserve their funding, several suits have been brought against the state to increase funds dedicated to elementary and secondary institutions. The state has been fending off similar litigation for nearly four decades.

One of the most visible and potentially powerful cases brought against the state in recent years could soon see resolution. The case of Gannon vs. State of Kansas (successor to Montoy vs. Kansas) has brought a direct challenge to the state’s school financing formula. The suit claims that the state has unconstitutionally made cuts in funding for public education and that certain components of the school finance formula are unconstitutional. A lower court agreed in January 2013 that the state was unconstitutionally denying students a “suitable” education and required the state to increase per-student spending by $600 annually. At the time, Deputy Education Commissioner in charge of Finance and Administration Dale Dennis remarked that compliance would cost the state an additional $442 million per year.

The state was quick to appeal. It maintains that the financing formula is within the bounds of the state’s constitution and that adequate funding has been provided for all K-12 institutions. Currently, both parties are awaiting a three-judge panel’s decision, which could also have an adverse effect on higher education funding in the state. If the panel of judges side with Gannon, funding may be pulled from the state’s colleges and universities and redistributed among the school districts.

Meanwhile, parents from the Shawnee Mission School District have also filed a suit claiming the state’s current cap on the amount of money residents in a given district can contribute to schools through taxes is unconstitutional. The group is claiming that the state had little rational basis for developing the formula, which was written in 1998. That formula was revised in both 2005 and 2006 after a suit backed by multiple districts claimed the state was not doing its constitutional duty to properly fund public schools.

The formula currently funnels a certain level of funding to all schools. Additional monies are then delivered to districts serving a greater number of low-income students, meaning sometimes these low-income counties receive more state funding than their affluent counterparts.

For his part, Governor Brownback has called for an end to the seemingly endless suits and education funding debates. “This cycle of school finance litigation must end,” Brownback said in an October 2013 statement. “It is the Legislature who has the power of the purse and they must decide how [to] solve this issue in the long run.” It is yet to be seen whether or not the Legislature will approve Brownback’s official budget recommendation, which includes his kindergarten-funding proposal. The governor will submit the budget this month. However, nothing approved will take effect until the beginning of the new fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2014.