10/6/2009
By DUANE SCHRAG Salina Journal

As education needs rise, districts are forced to make cuts

The recession is hammering Kansas schools from every direction, Deputy Commissioner of Education Dale Dennis told Salina's Rotarians on Monday.

It is driving enrollment in public schools up because families that once could afford to send their children to private schools no longer can. It's driving enrollment up because Kansas natives who moved to better paying jobs in other states are moving back home to the shelter of their families. More pupils means more cost.

It has increased the number of students eligible for free lunches -- a measure of at-risk students that puts additional demands on the system -- by 10 percent.

All the while, the relentless timetable of No Child Left Behind is putting increasing pressure on school districts to raise student performance. The Kansas Supreme Court put the state on notice several years ago that it had to increase its commitment to poor and disadvantaged students.

But schools received $168 million less than they were promised last year, forcing districts across the state to slash spending and lay off teachers.

Enough is enough

Other teachers are quitting, rather than see their efforts undermined by budget cuts, Dennis said.

"I helped build this up, but I'm not going to help tear it down," is the sentiment they're expressing, Dennis told the Rotarians gathered for their weekly luncheon.

"How long can we keep raising the bar when resources keep going down?"

Dennis told the crowd with remarkable speed. At the beginning of fiscal 2008 -- July 1, 2007 -- the state's general fund balance was $935 million, the largest in history. Two years later, the figure was $64 million, and it would have been a negative number if $31 million in tax refunds and $73 million in school funding due in fiscal 2009 had not been withheld until the next year.

It's not the sort of accounting the state is particularly proud of.

"CPAs get awful nervous about that," Dennis said.

They're not the only nervous ones. Schools for Fair Funding, a coalition of Kansas school districts -- including the Salina School District -- that successfully sued the state to increase its funding for education, has been talking about filing a new lawsuit.

Cutting teachers and more

School districts this school year are supposed to be receiving $4,492 a student in base state aid; that has been cut to $4,218, a reduction of $136.5 million. A survey of school districts shows that resulted in 3,700 positions being cut, which included 1,160 teachers.

Many teachers say what they need to improve the quality of education is more time with students, but some school districts are shortening their school year to save money, Dennis said.

"I'm not sure shortening the school year raises student achievement," he said.

Dennis was asked if the state is still meeting its constitutional obligation to provide for an adequate education.

"Would we meet it today, with the changes? I don't know," Dennis said.

nReporter Duane Schrag can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at dschrag@salina.com.