KS Legislature approves $4 billion in school funds, but public school advocates call for veto
Kansas public education groups are calling on Gov. Laura Kelly to veto a nearly $4 billion budget for K-12 schools which lawmakers approved Friday.
The House voted 83 to 37 and the Senate voted 23 to 16 to approve the bill but its fate is uncertain as top allies of the Democratic governor say it amounts to bad policy tied to insufficient funding. The House fell one vote short of a veto-proof majority, but the chamber was missing two Republican members who were absent. The Senate fell four votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
The bill allocated full constitutional funding to Kansas’ K-12 schools but it also expanded eligibility for a program offering tax credits for donations to private school scholarships.
The tax credit scholarship was first established in 2014 under former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and has been steadily grown over the years. The budget bill increased student eligibility for the scholarships to anyone below 250% of the poverty line and allowed donors to claim a higher percentage of their donation as a credit.
The Kansas Association of School Boards pointed to this provision, and the Legislature’s failure to infuse more funds into special education, as reasons for the governor to reject the bill and demand lawmakers send her a new proposal.
“We’ll come back for a special session, we’ll do whatever it takes,” Leah Fliter, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards said. “This bill as it passed out of conference committee today is not acceptable.”
The Kansas National Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union which campaigned for Kelly, also opposed the bill because of the tax credit scholarship component.
Kelly’s office did not immediately respond to questions about whether she would sign the education budget bill but she made full funding of special education a key priority of her second term.
In addition to the education funding, Kansas lawmakers approved an $18 billion budget for the state government. The full budget included raises for state workers and $10 million for stadium improvements for Sporting KC ahead of the World Cup, which will be hosted in Kansas City in 2026.
Kelly, a Democrat, campaigned in 2018 and again last year on her unyielding support for public education.
While she has often listened to the requests of organizations like KASB, Kelly has also developed a precedent of accepting narrow expansions of “school choice” in exchange for full funding of education. In 2021 lawmakers expanded eligibility for the tax credit scholarship in the budget and last year they established a new open enrollment policy.
GOP leadership dismissed the opposition of public school groups as nit-picking.
“They always want what they want so I’m not sure we can ever make them real happy,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said.
Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican, pointed to the numerous items in the budget schools had asked for, including granting them funding for newly enrolled students more quickly.
“There is more money ever, ever going to public schools, we’ve not taken anything back,” Baumgardner said. “I think now they’re just trying to find something to be opposed to, but the bottom line is the only districts that might be struggling are going to be the ones that have had significant declines in enrollment.”
Tax Credit Scholarship
Kelly’s Democratic allies in the Legislature staunchly opposed the bill, objecting broadly to the decision to combine policy with an education appropriations bill.
“This is no way to craft policy, this is no way to do half of our budget,” said Rep. Jarrod Ousley, a Merriam Democrat.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said was frustrated by the lack of oversight over schools participating in the tax credit scholarship program even as lawmakers continually expand eligibility. She noted that Kansas is one of 10 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.
“We won’t expand Medicaid, but we’re gonna give these dollars without any accountability,” she said. “We have no data talking about how this is helping these kids.”
She said the state had no clear understanding of how many students applied for the scholarships and were denied.
According to the Kansas Department of Revenue, $21 million has been claimed in tax credits since the program began in 2014. Last year, less than $5 million was claimed in credits though the state allocates up to $10 million for them. This year 1,340 students are using the scholarships at 88 schools.
Supporters argued the expansion was a relatively limited provision that could help students who didn’t thrive in a traditional public school.
“The tax credit still has a $10 million cap,” Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican, said in a meeting of House Republicans. Williams has been a staunch advocate of the tax credit and other programs that use public funds to help families send their children to alternative schools.
Sen. Brenda Dietrich, a Topeka Republican and former superintendent, said the bill was a compromise.
“I don’t like the low income scholarship tax credit program, I never have, but it’s been in statute since 2014,” Dietrich said. “It isn’t going to cause me to reject full funding for our schools.”
Special Education Funding
Fliter highlighted that the budget failed to include Kelly’s requested increase for special education funding.
“All the kids of Kansas are asking for is $70 million out of a budget that has $4 billion in reserves,” Fliter said.
State statute requires Kansas to fund 92% of excess costs of special education covered by the federal government. But the state has not met that obligation since at least 2011.
Kelly campaigned for her second term on a promise to “fully fund” special education but Republicans in the Legislature showed immediate resistance, indicating instead a preference to study the issue further. The budget approved Friday authorizes a task force to study the state’s formula for special education funding.
Sen. Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican, said during debate Friday under the current formula some schools are receiving more than the required 92% of excess costs. If the state adjusts to increase funding, she said, some rural districts would lose funding.
She argued there was too much focus on how much money schools were getting rather than the performance of students.
“Stop looking at inputs and look at outputs,” she said.
Republicans ultimately agreed to Kelly’s $72 million first year funding request but included it in a bill authorizing a new voucher-like program rather than funding it in the normal budget process.
The Legislature ultimately didn’t vote on the policy. Friday afternoon Senate President Ty Masterson said he it wasn’t clear the Senate had enough votes to pass the policy.
This story was originally published April 28, 2023 at 7:16 PM.
