Education a Prime Target for Lawmakers Needing to Balance Budget

January 6, 2010

No need to tell Teresa Songs times are tough.

Around Thanksgiving, the principal at Chase Middle School had a student say, "I don’t think we’ll have any food for Thanksgiving." Another said there wouldn’t be any Christmas gifts.

Parents are struggling more than ever paying textbook rental fees, leading them to ask for waivers. So as lawmakers head to Topeka next week, Songs knows the battle about to be waged between education spending and taxes. Families are hurting, she said, while schools are trying to reach performance targets that keep climbing even when the economy sink s.

"We certainly hope the Legislature will balance the needs of education with the needs of people," Songs said.

Funding for public schools in Kansas consumes a little more than half of the state’s budget, making it a prime target for lawmakers facing a projected shortfall of $350 million. Still, when it comes to more budget cuts, some are ready to draw a line in front of the schoolhouse door. Further cuts, says Gov. Mark Parkinson, will damage the state’s education system.

"The quality of education will decline," he said.

House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, is tired of the pleas from schools.

"I have asked, ‘How much is enough?’ " he said. "They will say, ‘Well, we don’t know. We don’t know. Just keep giving us more.’ Bad times aren’t going to last forever. For crying out loud, get real."

School funding is always a tricky issue for lawmakers, who are required by the state’s constitution to provide a "suitable" education. Questions about the state meeting its obligation to fund schools has led to lawsuits, and some school districts organized under the banner Schools for Fair Funding are looking at renewed litigation.

After the state’s base state aid per pupil stayed stagnant and even lost ground between 2001 and 2005, Schools for Fair Funding prevailed in suing the state for more money. At the time, the Legislature’s own studies said the state was underfunding schools, and money was pumped into public education — $290 million for the 2005-06 school year followed by a three-year plan to boost spending by $541 million.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said the additional money made a difference.

"The re are some legislators — whether they like it or not — a greater financial investment results in greater achievement," he said.

Now, schools have seen the base state aid per pupil this year drop to $4,012 from $4,400 last year. Statewide, spending per pupil has declined 3.4 percent, but that figure would be far more significant if it wasn’t for a $26 million increase in local spending and a $290 million increase in short-term federal recovery aid. State aid dropped $428.9 million, a decline of 15 percent, said deputy education commissioner Dale Dennis. Statewide, about 3,700 public school jobs were eliminated.

Parkinson said schools are now at the 2006 funding levels required to receive federal recovery funds. And while some might dispute that schools have sunk to 2006 levels, Parkinson said it would take a request from his office to cut school funding any more and not lose federal recovery dollars.

"Only the governor’s office in each state is given that authority, and I’m not going to request a waiver," he said. "We are not going to spend below the 2006 funding levels."

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, said school cuts can’t be taken off the table. Schools haven’t hit 2006 levels, he argued.

"I hope he’s not serious about that," O’Neal said of Parkinson.

Janet Waugh, chairwoman of the Kansas State Board of Education, said it will be difficult for schools to make more cuts. She said they already have carefully evaluated where they can save money.

"I really don’t think there’s fat out there," she said. "It’s very, very lean. They’re now starting to cut away at the muscle."

Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, said his associa tion is warning schools to prepare for "cuts as deep or deeper or twice as deep" as those they already have weathered. Tough decisions lie ahead, he said, pointing to contentious school closings in the area.

"What we’re trying to help people understand is you can’t have it both ways," he said. "You can’t cut taxes, say make government smaller and then complain if it’s your school or your program that’s affected by that. Kansas has to decide what kind of an educational system it wants."