The new budget proposal would mean replacing the state’s current finance model for education with block grants that school districts could use to as they see fit. But federal court judges and the executive director of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System have criticized the governor’s new plan, believing it will cause more problems down the road.
CNN reports Kansas is facing a $280 million deficit this fiscal year.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley said Brownback’s proposed budget plan is unconstitutional.
“I believe the school finance formula has stood the test of time, but what hasn't stood the test of time is the legislature's commitment to adequately funding the formula," Hensley said.
The state has already been accused by federal judges of falling millions of dollars short of the bare minimum education expenditure required by Kansas’ constitution.
The state’s Department of Education has said the block grant model would cut education spending in the state by an additional $127.4 million, while state republicans, working with a model that incorporates teacher pensions, argues the cuts would amount to only $22 million.
“They don’t even add up the rest of what we spend,” said Sen. Ty Masterson, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “The real cut, if you’re going to call it a cut, is $22 million.”
The Kansas City Star refuted that claim, noting that almost half of the pension spending increases for teachers make up most of the budget cuts.
Brownback’s plan doesn’t just affect schools, but state workers as well. Over the next three fiscal years, he plans to cut state pension payments by $446 million to refinance state debts.
Research has shown that frugality in school expenditures has broad consequences. According to a National Bureau of Economic Research study, the need for public assistance grows with cuts to education, suggesting that a better-educated population means less poverty.
"It seems Governor Brownback's 'Roadmap for Education' is an unpaved path taking our students back to the 19th century," said the president of the Kansas National Education Association Blake West.
