UPDATE: Legislators continue to focus on public school funding

UPDATE POSTED 1 P.M. TUESDAY, AUG. 10, 2021

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – A bi-partisan group of legislators continue to research current public school funding mechanisms as they work to develop a possible new model for the state’s K-12 schools.

The cost of transportation led the agenda at this month’s meeting as members heard presentations from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).

From 2020-2021, school transportation costs peaked to $382 million dollars. This past year, bus drivers transported more than 362,000 students, and drove more than 90 million miles.

In Jefferson County the state’s most dense school district, buses travel about 100,000 miles per day. Presenters also gave an overview of the depreciation rate and its effect on the need for funding.

Lawmakers also heard from school officials as they anticipate the impact of the Education Opportunity Act (EOA), HB 563. The Act allows state funding to follow a student to the public school of their choice, including those out-of-district

Legislators are monitoring how the flexibility for parents and students will impact the school district budgets.

Members also heard presentations from the Kentucky School Board Association (KSBA) and the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents (KASS) which spoke to the amount of mandates on the education system, including those that are unfunded.

While some unfunded mandates are obvious, like the requirement that each school must employ a librarian, some are less obvious, like the use of schools as polling places.

Presenters were quick to thank members for the historic $140 million dollar investment in full-day kindergarten.

If added to the existing calculation of SEEK (Support Educational Excellence in Kentucky) funds, this investment would increase per pupil funding to $4,186. It also provides local school districts additional flexibility to invest in areas they identify as priorities.

“By funding full-day kindergarten, the legislature has taken the first step towards fulfilling the needs of our current and future students,” Co-Chairman Tipton said. “Our next step is to continue to educate members on the needs and concerns of the education system, especially those that can guide us to make informed decisions during budget sessions.”

Just last month, the Teacher’s Retirement System of Kentucky approved a new set of assumptions about the future that will add $3 billion in unfunded liability.

“As we continue to look at more closely at the mechanisms used to fund public schools, we need to remain mindful of the other pulls for funding,” Tipton added. “Teacher’s retirement remains the biggest pull, as these new assumptions could pull at least $200 million dollars more each year.”

ORIGINAL STORY POSTED 4 P.M. AUG. 9, 2021

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Schools can use additional funding, but state lawmakers could help in other ways as well, legislators were told Monday.

One big way would be streamlining state laws and mandates that no longer are needed, duplicate other rules and don’t serve their original purpose.

The state hasn’t done something like that in 70 years. And when it comes to schools, the book of rules and laws from 1988 is vastly smaller than the one from 2016, state lawmakers were shown during a task force hearing Monday.

“We could have a special session only repealing statutes, reports that aren’t needed anymore, things that could be done some other way. I would encourage us to do that as soon as we get rid of the PD and blood-born pathogen training. We can work on our special session to repeal some of this,” Eric Kennedy with the Kentucky School Boards Association told the Legislature’s School Funding Task Force.

Experts said in many ways, the cumbersome rules and paperwork contribute to teacher and administrator shortages because they have taken the fun out of teaching.