ACT Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

Kansas is #3 in state aid, #38 in ‘bang for the education buck’0
- Education
- November 9, 2022
With school spending and student achievement going in opposite directions, Kansas has one of the worst productivity rankings (bang for the education buck) in the nation. A dollar spent in Kansas buys a lot more than a dollar in New York or California, so we adjust spending for comparison to other states using the Missouri
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Kansas #11 in COL-adjusted spending per student for 2020 0
- Education
- June 9, 2022
Education officials contend schools are underfunded, but Kansas had the 11th-highest spending per student in 2020, adjusted for the cost of living in each state. Education officials also believe the states that spend the most have the best outcomes, yet achievement continues to decline in Kansas while spending shoots significantly higher. So predictably, school officialsREAD MORE
Inflation-adjusted school funding +52%, teacher pay down 9%0
- Education
- May 12, 2022
Allegations of low teacher pay is used to urge legislators for more funding, but money is not the problem or the answer. (For the record, Kansas was #38 in 2019, but adjusted for the cost of living, Kansas was #15). Data from the National Center for Education Statistics, which come from local school districts, show
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School budgets average $16,686 per pupil this year 0
- Education
- January 30, 2022
Data published by the Kansas Department of Education show school budgets average $16,686 per student this year. Actual spending for the 2021 school year was $15,869. A review of the 25 largest districts based on enrollment shows budgeted spending ranging from a low of around $12,000 for Andover to almost $24,000 for Geary County Schools.
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KSDE deceives legislators about student achievement 0
- Education
- December 9, 2021
It’s pretty telling when student achievement is so low that the Kansas Department of Education will only talk about it in generalities. Testimony presented by Deputy Commissioner Bran Neuenswander said state assessment scores were on a decline between 2015 and 2018, began to “level off” in 2019, but then fell in 2021. (The assessment wasn’t
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Five things to know about money-follow-the-child programs 0
- Education
- April 12, 2021
Money-follow-the-child programs tax credit scholarships for low-income kids and education savings accounts for students below grade level – have generated a lot of good questions. There is also a fair amount of misinformation going around. We provide explanations below for five of the most frequently raised issues, but please let us know if you have
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