Kansas Education Commissioner Watson touts new ESEA (A Blog from KASB)

Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson on Thursday touted the new federal education law that will replace many of the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

“Overall, we are very excited,” Watson told the board of the Coalition of Innovative School Districts.

“We see a lot of flexibility in the law. Every day we get into it deeper, we get more excited about possibilities in the law,” he said.

The state education agency is putting together two panels to dive into the newest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was recently adopted on a bi-partisan basis in Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

The new law keeps intact the annual testing schedule under No Child Left Behind, but generally leaves to the states how much importance to place on the test scores.

Watson said the new law removes much of the authority over education from the U.S. Secretary of Education and gives it back to the states.

He also said he sees opportunities under the new state law to boost early childhood education.

“The board (Kansas State Board of Education) is extremely interested in kindergarten readiness. We are going to expand our presence in early childhood. We see over the long-term that could be beneficial,” he said.

He said ESEA won’t be the major driving force of Kansas education but will be more like the “backbone,” he said.

I'm from Kansas by Dr. John Heim, KS Association of School Boards Executive Director

Pickups and Schools

This year has brought some big changes for me. Among them, I am not commuting 120 miles a day anymore. I also traded my 10-year-old Nissan pickup on a new Ford F150. These changes made me think about an interesting argument made by a Kansas policy group about median spending in schools. The argument is the Legislature should take the median spending level for schools and limit spending to that median for each spending category. The assumption, I guess, is that any spending above the median for each category is wasteful.

So let’s take a look at two hypothetical situations, call them medians for 2014JH and 2016JH. (Since I only had two data sets, I used average instead of median for a measure of central tendency.)

Spending Category               2014JH Monthly       2016JH Monthly       Average

Vehicle Maintenance                       $200                        $20                     $110

Gas                                                   $360                        $20                     $190

Principal and Interest                        $0                           $400                   $200

Based upon this comparison and the policy group’s reasoning, 2014JH is overspending on monthly maintenance by $90 and gas by $170, whereas 2016JH is grossly overspending on principal and interest by $200! These two JH’s are obviously on vehicular spending sprees. The differences in travel and age of vehicle explain the differences.

So let’s look at two large districts in a metropolitan area. One district, call them Metro City, is at the city core. Their buildings were primarily built in the 1950s and ‘60s. The bond debt has been paid off for years, but these buildings require as much or more maintenance as a 2006 Nissan pickup. Their maintenance and energy costs will be relatively high, certainly higher than the median.

Red River, the second district is in the same metropolitan area and has been growing rapidly. All of their buildings have been built since the 1980s. Because of the rapid growth, they add a new school building every year or so. This district’s bond and interest costs will be far above the Metro City’s and above the median in their category. But because they built with modern designs and materials, their energy costs are far less than the median. Maintenance costs on their newer facilities will be less than Metro City and the median.

If one is looking for a way to take cheap shots at different district’s spending levels in different categories, they would say Metro City is wasteful and inefficient because of high energy and maintenance costs out of one side of their mouth and Red River is wasteful and inefficient because of high bond and interest costs out of the other, while ignoring the obvious big picture differences.

Kansas School districts are as different as the children they serve. Garden City and Maize have similar enrollments, but are unique in more ways than my short blog can list. Should we really expect them to be at the same median spending levels in total in categories? If you believe that, you haven’t driven a Ford lately.

President signs into law reauthorization of ESEA

President Barack
Obama on Thursday signed into law the bi-partisan overhaul of No Child Left
Behind.



The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act shifts some
authority over public schools from the federal government to the states and
local districts.



The new law, which is called the Every Student Succeeds Act, maintains mandated
testing of students in third- through eighth-grades and once in high school,
but it allows states to determine how to use those test scores to evaluate
teachers and schools.



Here is a link to a White House analysis of the new law.

More than 500 education officials participate in KASB's Annual Conference

USD 331  Board Members & Superintendent among those in Attendance

A Blog by KS Association of School Boards

More than 500 school
leaders met in Wichita last week to participate in the 98th Annual KASB
Conference.

School board members
and administrators attended breakout sessions, visited schools, heard inspiring
speeches, toured exhibits and elected office holders during the meeting at the
Hyatt Regency and Century II Convention Center.

KASB President Don
Shimkus, a member of the Oxford USD 358 school board, urged education advocates
to tell their neighbors and colleagues about the great work being conducted on
behalf of students at their local schools.

“Rally your community
around your school,” Shimkus said.

KASB Executive
Director John Heim said Kansas public schools have one of the best stories in
the nation to tell.

Kansas ranks eighth
among states in student outcomes while ranking 27th in spending per pupil.
Every state that ranks ahead of Kansas spends more per pupil.

“We have better
results for less money than any other state,” Heim said.

Both Heim and Shimkus
urged KASB delegates to try to lead the conversation on public schools in
Kansas.

The Delegate Assembly
voted unanimously for Dayna Miller, a member of the Basehor-Linwood USD 458
school board, as president-elect designee.

“I promise to do my
best and continue our mission and advocate for all students,” Miller said. Her
term as president will start in July 2017.

Shimkus’ term will
run to July 2016 at which time Amy Martin, a member of the Olathe USD 233
school board, will become president.

The Delegate Assembly
also approved its 2016 Legislative Committee report, which outlines KASB’s
goals and stances for the upcoming Legislative Session.

Here is a link to that report.

School Finance, State Budget Grab Center Stage (A blog by the KS Association of School Boards)

Two major events occur Friday that will set the direction of the 2016 Legislative Session, the next election and perhaps the education of a generation of Kansas schoolchildren.

At 9 a.m. oral arguments will be held before the Kansas Supreme Court in the long running Gannon school finance lawsuit.

The court proceedings can be viewed online here.

The court will consider whether the state needs to come up with approximately $50 million in equity funding for poor school districts. A three-judge panel ordered the funding, but the state appealed.

Documents in the case can be accessed here.

The larger question of whether overall funding to Kansas schools is adequate will be addressed next year by the state Supreme Court. Again, the three-judge panel has ruled the state has failed to provide adequate funding. A ruling against the state by the Supreme Court in this dispute could mean upwards of a $500 million increase for schools.

The lawsuit was brought in 2010 by plaintiff school districts after state budget reductions started in 2009.

Then later Friday, state budget experts will meet to re-calculate revenue projections for the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends July 1, and the next fiscal year.

For the first four months of this fiscal year, tax receipts have fallen $78 million below previous projections, according to this memo from the Kansas Legislative Research Department.  

Key legislators have said they expect the Legislature will need to make $100 million in adjustments to balance the budget when the 2016 session starts in January. Some legislators have speculated that Gov. Sam Brownback may have to make budget cuts before the session to keep state finances afloat.

Talk of budget adjustments likely means budget cuts and fund transfers since legislators facing re-election in 2016 won’t want to have to defend another tax increase on top of the one they approved in 2015, when Brownback allies raised the state sales tax from 6.15 percent to 6.5 percent and increased cigarette and alcohol taxes.

KASB Blog: Most Kansans Don't Like Block Grant Funding System for Public Schools

The new block grant system to fund schools has received a failing grade from the public, according to the latest Kansas Speaks survey.

Sixty-four percent of respondents — nearly two thirds — said the block grant system resulted in a lower quality of education for children in their school districts, while 29 percent felt there was no change in the quality of education and 7 percent said it resulted in a higher quality of education.

The block grant system received an even worse grade from people who had school-age children at home with 73 percent of them saying it resulted in a lower quality of education; 20 percent saying it had no effect; and 7 percent saying it improved the quality of education.

The Kansas Speaks survey is an annual poll conducted by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University. The poll, taken between Sept. 14 and Oct. 5, questioned a random sample of 1,252 adult Kansans on a wide variety of subjects, including the quality of life in Kansas, economy, taxes, state government, public policies and voting. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent. Here is a link to the survey.

Gov. Sam Brownback signed the block grant funding system into law during the last legislative session saying it would provide stable funding and serve as a temporary method until a more permanent finance formula could be devised. A three-judge panel has ruled the block grant system unconstitutional. The state has appealed that decision to the Kansas Supreme Court, which will hold oral arguments in the case on Friday, November 6.

The block grant essentially froze the level of school spending, which has squeezed many school districts that have faced increased enrollment and other increased expenses.