TOPEKA, KAN. – The Kansas chapter of the grassroots group Americans for Prosperity has prepared a three-page policy primer to help Kansans understand education funding in the state and to learn what Kansas spends compared to other states in the region.

This is the second in a series of policy primers written by AFP-Kansas to help Kansas taxpayers, policymakers and members of the media learn more about several areas of public policy.

Kansas has seen an increase of about $1 billion in K-12 funding since 2003, while enrollment has remained relatively flat.

“There have been claims that funding for schools has ‘returned to pre-Montoy levels,’” said AFP-Kansas state director Derrick Sontag. “However the policy primer clearly shows that K-12 education has realized nearly a $1 billion increase in funding since 2004, just prior to the Montoy decision in January of 2005, even though there aren’t that many more students in the system.

“Kansans have strongly supported their public schools over the last six years, and it is interesting to note that despite these massive funding increases, math and reading test scores have been stagnant. This begs the question as to whether the state is getting a good return on its investment.”

Sontag said with the looming budget shortfalls the Kansas Legislature will face in January, it’s important to ask why the portion of the state’s budget that has received such large increases should not be subjected to the same reductions that will be considered for other departments and agencies. He said there simply aren’t enough resources for increases in education funding, a fact about which education lobbyists must be aware.

“It’s our hope that our education policy primer will serve as a resource for the Kansas Legislature, as well as Kansas taxpayers,” Sontag said. “Come January, the Statehouse will be filled with taxpayer-funded lobbyists who will advocate for increases in K-12 funding, without regard to the state of the Kansas budget and economy.

“Many of these lobbyists have already called for tax increases and are specifically targeting Kansas businesses. At a time when the unemployment rate is at a 26-year high in Kansas, it seems that raising the tax burden on businesses, whether small, medium or large would be detrimental to the Kansas workforce.”

Click to download the Kansas AFP policy primer.