special education Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

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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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

Special Education costs are 100% reimbursed, counting all the money 0
- Education
- May 9, 2022
School districts are hammering legislators for underfunding special education, but the Kansas Department of Education formula doesn’t seem to count all of the money. Given credit for all funding, school districts are being reimbursed for 103.4% of total costs this year and 98.7% next year. There seem to be several issues with the formula in
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Schools claim special education is underfunded but have $200 million left over 0
- Education
- April 27, 2022
The Kansas Board of Education says the Legislature should increase funding for special education by $155 million for FY 2023 because it is not at a statutory level. But KBOE and school districts forget to mention that they have a little over $200 million of unspent funding left over from prior years. But that isn’t
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