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Kansas educators seek return to familiar school aid formula

Posted at 9:05 PM, Dec 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-22 22:05:53-05

While Republican Gov. Sam Brownback talks about taking a new approach to funding Kansas public schools, educators are hoping lawmakers will return to a familiar per-student formula.

Brownback has told reporters he wants a new formula to focus on student performance.

But superintendents and local school boards expressed their desire for something more traditional in emails to the governor's office this fall.

They're looking to have the state's $4.1 billion a year in annual aid distributed per student, giving extra "weightings" to each student with special needs.

With Brownback's support, the GOP-dominated Legislature junked such a formula in 2015 in favor of stable grants of aid for each district.

But the change always was meant to be temporary, and lawmakers expect to consider a new formula next year.

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