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February 22, 2008

House Education Committee works consolidation, high density at-risk

The House Education Committee worked three bills this morning; two on consolidation and one on high density at-risk funding.

Both consolidation bills were passed out of committee and will now go to the full House for consideration.

HB 2734 is the “carrot” approach. It gives consolidating districts their combined state aid for an extended period of time in order to lessen the financial pain of consolidation. The number of years that the newly consolidated district would receive the combined aid is tied to the number of students in the school districts prior to the consolidation.

HB 2760 is the “stick” approach. This bill would flatten low enrollment weighting at 200 students rather than the current 100 if the small district is less than 200 square miles in area. This would effectively reduce low enrollment weighting in districts that are relatively compact while preserving it for those districts that are geographically very large.

Both bills were amended so that they do not become effective until 2010.

The linear transition bill, HB 2605, is likely to be a little more controversial when it hits the floor. Under the current high density at-risk weighting, districts with more than 50% poverty get an additional .9 in at-risk funding while those with between 40 and 49% poverty get an additional .5. The stair step approach has been frustrating for districts that hover close to the cutoffs and worry about the loss of funding triggered by a very small reduction in students. This bill changes the weighting to a slanted line from 44% to 50% poverty. With each increase in students in poverty over 44%, the district receives a little more funding.

The controversial part is that by making the bill revenue neutral (the same amount of money as last year), it creates winners and losers. It would have taken an additional $2 million to hold every district harmless but a motion by Rep. Geraldine Flaharty (D-Wichita) to add the money to the bill failed.

The bill was passed out of committee and now goes to the full House.

Full Senate passes six bills including “fourth year”

Yesterday evening the Senate passed all six education bills that were on their debate calendar including SB 531, the plan for a fourth year of school funding. The votes are as follows:

• SB 531 – $59 on BSAPP for the fourth year of school finance; passed on a vote of 37-2 with Tim Huelskamp (R-Meade) and Dennis Pyle (R-Hiawatha) voting no.
• SB 437 – ROTC scholarship community college pilot project: passed on a vote of 39-0.
• SB 459 – a second count date (Feb. 20) for all school districts; passed on a vote of 30-9 after being amended to allow a second count if a district increases by 1%. Voting no were Terry Bruce (R-Hutchinson), Marci Francisco (D-Lawrence), Phil Journey (R-Haysville), Laura Kelly (D-Topeka), Janis Lee (D-Kensington), Ralph Ostmeyer (R-Grinnell), Peggy Palmer (R-Augusta), Mark Taddiken (R-Clifton), and Susan Wagle (R-Wichita).
• SB 404 – admissions, tuition and fees at the Kansas Academy of Math and Science; passed on a vote of 39-0.
• SB 470 – fixing the FERPA problem in the school safety act; passed on a vote of 39-0.
• SB 507 – creating the Mathematics, Engineering, Technology, and Science Education Innovation Council; passed on a vote of 39-0.

Senator Greta Goodwin (D-Winfield) was excused.

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