School Funding Falls Short Of Expectations

A school funding plan enacted recently in Kansas is expected to provide $12 million less than previously thought for public school classrooms.

The State Department of Education is apologizing for what it says is confusion surrounding its estimates.

Republican legislators pushed the plan earlier this month, and GOP Gov. Sam Brownback signed it into law last week. Supporters said it provides an additional $73 million for Kansas classrooms.

The new total is $61 million.

Both figures include $25 million in aid during the next school year for equipment or capital improvement projects.

Supporters of the plan had relied on figures issued by the department on April 6. Those figures were revised April 17.

Brownback aides said they didn’t know about the revised estimates when he signed the bill.