2016 State Education Report Card: A Media Release by the Kansas Association of School Boards

2016 State Education Report Card Media Release

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Tallman, mtallman@kasb.org;  785.608.4506; 785.243.3600

Scott Rothschild, srothschild@kasb.org;  785.221.4245; 785.273.3600

Kansas ranks high, spends low; concerns on the horizon

The Kansas Association of School Boards is releasing new research showing that while the state’s overall education rank remains high, it has slipped in some key areas. These changes have taken place while other states have increased their school funding much more than Kansas.

The report focuses on educational outcomes reflected by the State Board of Education’s Kansans Can vision; workforce educational needs; and the standards set by the Kansas Supreme Court for constitutional funding.

“This report is an early warning that Kansans can’t be complacent about our historically high levels of achievement,” said KASB’s Associate Executive Director Mark Tallman. “If the state wishes to retain its high rank ‐‐ and improve it to truly lead the world in the success of each student ‐‐ policymakers and other leaders must acknowledge the role funding plays in educational achievement levels not only in Kansas but nationwide.”  

Kansas now ranks 10th in the nation in overall student outcomes while ranking 29th in total revenue per pupil. Each state that ranks higher than Kansas spends more per pupil. In addition, 37 states have increased funding more than Kansas since 2008. During that period, Kansas teacher salaries have not kept pace with most other states.

Kansas has better educational outcomes on average than its peers ‐ those most like Kansas in terms of student characteristics, adult populations and urban/rural balance ‐ and spends less per pupil. However, peer states have generally been improving faster and increasing funding more than Kansas.

Although Kansas has improved on most education measures, especially educational attainment by young adults, declines on national fourth and eighth grade reading and math tests could indicate future problems if corrective action is not taken.  

The full Report Card and Supplement can be found at www.kasb.org/reportcard2016

The Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Won't Work - A blog by the KS Center for Economic Growth

The Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Won't Work

By Kansas Center for Economic Growth Senior Fellow Duane Goossen

The FY 2016 budget did not work, and it's already clear that FY 2017 will not work either. Mid-fiscal year budget cuts are quite likely ahead.

It's the same problem that has existed since unaffordable income tax cuts were implemented. Kansas does not have nearly enough revenue to pay even a constrained set of bills. We're broke.

Look at the "official" or approved version of the FY 2017 budget (from FY 2017 Comparison Report, page 12). Note the large imbalance between recurring revenue and expenditures. And that's after the governor cut expenditures from the total that lawmakers approved last May. Medicaid providers - doctors, hospitals, nursing homes - have had their payments chopped by 4 percent to save about $57 million, and higher education funding was hit for $31 million. With those cuts incorporated, the official version shows an ending balance of $96 million, a positive number at least, but far below the statutorily required 7.5 percent of expenditures. (7.5 percent of expenditures in this budget equals $470 million.)

But the official version will not hold! The imbalance between revenue and expenses will grow, and the ending balance will go negative without more budget cuts or other remedial action.

First of all, the official version assumes a beginning balance of $40 million. That did not happen. Rather, the state had to stop paying bills at the end of FY 2016 in order to keep the general fund balance just above zero.

Second and most important, the estimate of recurring revenue in the official version comes from the April Consensus Revenue Estimate (CRE). We now know that the April CRE overestimated FY 2016 tax revenue by $106 million, which means the FY 2017 estimate will almost certainly be revised downward when the forecasting group meets in November. Revenue was already short by $15 million in the first month of FY 2017. If the FY 2017 revenue assumption is lowered by $106 million to match what happened in FY 2016, the general fund will immediately be insolvent, triggering more expenditure cuts.

Third, the official version counts on one-time income of $48 million from the privatization or sale of the Kansas Bioscience Authority (KBA). Quite likely that figure is overly optimistic.

On top of all that, the state pushed payment of $75 million of school finance bills from FY 2016 into FY 2017 in order to get out of FY 2016. That expenditure shift does not show up in the official version, but if it did, the expenditure total would be $75 million higher. How will that $75 million be dealt with? We don't know, maybe through more cuts, or maybe $75 million in FY 2017 bills will be pushed to FY 2018. Remember, the state also deferred $96 million in KPERS payments to get out of FY 2016 and promised to pay those bills in FY 2018 with interest.

Kansas lives on the financial edge, unable to move confidently into the future. Income tax cuts caused this. When lawmakers convene in January, they must build a budget for FY 2018, but without changes in tax policy, it too is destined to fail.

 

Welcome Back to Kingman and Norwich Schools

The summer is nearing an end once again and I hope it’s been a time of rejuvenation for all of you as it was for me. Ending the 2015-2016 school year only a few months ago was a troubling time. The Supreme Court ruled the school finance formula unconstitutional and gave the legislature until the end of June to fix it or schools could be closed. Fortunately, a legislative compromise was found and signed into law and districts are moving forward preparing schools for the upcoming school year. Your support of the schools made a huge difference and is appreciated. Thank you for your continued support of USD 331 schools.

On behalf of the USD 331 Board of Education, faculty, and staff, I want to welcome ALL students and parents to USD 331 and Kingman and Norwich Schools. We all hope the upcoming school year will be fun, challenging, and a period of great growth for our students. Many teachers continued their professional learning to develop new skills over the summer. Custodial and maintenance staff cleaned, repaired, and updated facilities and other staff made additional preparations to make the upcoming school year a great one for our students. Enrollment has been completed and teachers and staff will return for additional in-service professional learning. Returning students will be returning to move up a grade and, as always, new students and families will enter USD 331 schools for the first time as school begins for grades K-12 on Wednesday, August 17^th. The USD 331 faculty and staff are excited to meet their students for another school year.

What is new this year? The past couple of years the Commissioner of Education, Dr. Randy Watson and staff from the Kansas State Department of Education went across the state to numerous communities to get input from parents, patrons, and business people on what they saw as important in education. From that data, the Kansas State Board of Education developed a vision for the state and developed student outcomes and those are being implemented beginning this school year. The five outcomes are 1) kindergarten readiness, 2) increasing graduation rates, 3) increasing the percent of students completing a credential or pursuing postsecondary education, 4) development of and individual plan of study focused on career interest, and 5) social/emotional factors relative to student success measured locally. In addition to the USD 331 Board of Education beginning the process to update the District Strategic Success Plan to incorporate the state vision, below is a list of how USD 331 staff will meet these outcomes?

1.     Kindergarten Readiness: Teachers in preschool will meet with other early childhood teachers (K-2) and begin discussion on what skills students need in order to be prepared for kindergarten. State Screening tools already available will be utilized along with local assessments to determine kindergarten readiness and the information and process will be shared with parents. Research clearly demonstrates the connection of kindergarten readiness to a successful school career.

2.     Graduation Rates: Though USD 331 already graduates more students than the state average, it’s not 100% and 100% is the district’s goal. For the past few years, an adult learning center has been implemented in the district. To serve students who struggle in the traditional school, a virtual school also is available to the students of USD 331. The virtual school tools have also been used the past few summers to help students who did not complete their courses throughout the school year to make them up over the summer. Online tools have been expanded to assist students this year in driver’s education and health opening other curricular opportunities and choices. Other outcomes listed below should also help increase graduation rates as the goal will always be 100%.

3.     Postsecondary Education and/or Credential: The district has data available identifying USD 331 graduates who enrolled in a postsecondary institution, if they received a technical credential, associate degree, and even a bachelor or graduate degree. This is important data to analyze and share with the community. The district works with individual students to help them attain career pathway completion and technical credentials and will continue looking at ways to expand. The high schools are scheduled to attend a college and career fair in Hutchinson in November that showcases postsecondary and future career options. Parents are encouraged to attend with their child or children.

4.     Individual Plans of Study: Beginning at the 6^th grade, students will begin to explore their interests and how those relate to future careers. Each year, students will add to an electronic portfolio tied to their interests and possible career choices. Teachers have already received training on the state-approved tool (Career Cruising) to assist students. Parent-Teacher conferences will continue to evolve into a review of interest/career counseling and connect current and future courses to those student interests.

5.     Social/Emotional Success: All schools have already implemented character education and bullying prevention and provide counseling to students. From those programs, character traits will be connected to success in students’ educational career and to future success in post-secondary education and careers.

In addition to working to ensure USD 331 students meet or exceed the outcomes above, there will be a new English Language Arts/Reading series introduced at the elementary level and updates in the math curriculum. Project Lead the Way (PLTW) science and engineering curriculum will continue to be taught from elementary through high school with an expansion of a middle school course at Norwich and Environmental Sustainability course at Kingman High School. The district goal for PLTW is to both meet a vital need for engineers and related careers and to build a science curriculum built upon a “hands on” and problem-solving context. Curriculum updates in all courses will be examined and updated throughout the year.

All staff, too, will continue work on professional learning goals and develop new skills to improve instruction, build positive student and parent relationships, and provide the best education available. The staff is committed to preparing citizens ready for college and careers and assisting each student to rise to his/her potential. We welcome our students and parents and will work hard to help every student succeed. Thank you for entrusting your child to USD 331 Kingman-Norwich.

Sincerely,

Robert G. Diepenbrock, Superintendent of Schools

Bus Safety Key as Students Head Back to School August 17th!

Bus safety key as students head back to school this month from the Kansas State Department of Education Bus Safety Division

TOPEKA — As students head back to school in August, there will be an influx of bright yellow school buses on the roads. This is a great reminder that it is important to keep children safe while traveling to and from the bus stop and while getting on and off the bus.

“School buses remain the safest way to transport students to and from school, but keeping our kids safe when getting on and off the bus is everyone’s responsibility,” said Keith Dreiling, state director of the School Bus Safety Unit. “Parents must review safety tips with their kids, bus drivers must follow protocol and the motoring public must stop for school buses displaying flashing red lights and stop arms.”

Yellow flashing lights on a school bus indicate the bus is preparing to stop, and red flashing lights signify vehicles must come to a complete stop on both sides of the street so children can safely cross to the bus.

In April 2016, 2,163 Kansas school bus drivers reported in a single day nearly 1,000 instances of motorists illegally passing a school bus. Motorists, students and their parents must remain vigilant, particularly before and after school when children are walking to bus stops or boarding and exiting buses.

There are 480,000 school buses on the road across the United States that provide public transportation for 26 million students every day. In Kansas 4,246 school bus drivers transported 227,778 students more than 69 million miles during the 2014-2015 school year, Dreiling said.

Parents are encouraged to speak with their children about school bus safety. The following tips can help facilitate the conversation:

•          Stay alert. Don’t listen to music, text or play games on a mobile device while walking to the stop.

•          Follow traffic signals and laws. Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Never run into the street or cross between parked cars.

•          Leave early. Be at the bus stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. Early arrival prevents children from running across a street to catch the bus as it pulls away from the stop.

•          Stand back. When the bus approaches, stand at least five big steps away from the curb, and line up away from the street. Avoid the driver’s blind spot.

•          Stand still. Wait until the bus completely stops, the door opens and the driver says it is okay before entering the bus. Do the same for exiting the bus. Be careful that clothing with drawstrings and book bags with straps don't get caught in handrails or doors.

•          Never walk behind the bus. Children should walk where the driver can see the child and the child can see the driver. Walk at least 10 big steps in front of the bus.

•          Watch for motorists. Even though motorists are required to stop when a bus is making pickups or drop-offs, make sure children look both ways before crossing the street.

Let’s work together this school year to keep our children safe.