School Funding

Flawed formula overfunded special education by at least $323 million the last five years 0
- Education
- February 13, 2023
Kansas school officials say the Legislature is falling short of its statutory obligation to fund special education, but it turns out that the formula doesn’t count all the money related to special education. If all the money is counted, the Legislature provided at least $323 million more than required over the last five years. The
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Disappointing, but not surprising, low scores on the 2022 state assessment 0
- Education
- October 12, 2022
Student achievement results on the just-released 2022 state assessment are disappointingly low, which is no surprise. And neither does the dismissive attitude of state education officials. Commissioner Randy Watson told the State Board of Education yesterday that math scores improved slightly but were not back to 2019 levels, and English Languages Arts slightly declined. That'sREAD MORE
School districts (again) rake in millions for non-existent students 0
- Education
- January 2, 2022
According to the latest student count data released by KSDE, districts across the state are set to receive in excess of $330 million in taxpayer funding during the 2021-22 school year for more than 70,000 non-existent students. Last year KPI published blogs here and here that disclosed how the state public school finance formula allows
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Kansas is #38 in bang for the educational buck 0
- Education
- June 2, 2021
Contrary to unsubstantiated claims by some education officials, Kansas has very low student achievement productivity, ranking #38 among the states. Education lobbyists insist that Kansas has very high achievement and gets more bang-for-the-buck than any high-achieving state, but the facts from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the U.S. Census show differently. A dollar
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No, KSBOE, Kansas doesn’t ‘lead the world’ in education 0
- Education
- March 3, 2021
A recent mailer distributed by the Kansas Board of Education and the Department of Education (KSBOE)implied that Kansas “leads the world” in the success of every student. But that’s not true. According to the National Assessment of Education (NAEP), Kansas doesn’t even lead the region or the nation, let alone the world. Kansas is belowREAD MORE
2021 Legislator Briefing Book also has good value for taxpayers 0
- Tax & Spending
- January 14, 2021
Our 2021 Legislator Briefing Book is designed to give legislators and taxpayers a quick-reference guide that provides background and perspective on state spending, tax facts, economic conditions, and K-12 education. It’s all government data, but much of it is hard to find. And the data often contradicts what you’ve heard from media and government officials. READ MORE