Topeka — Calling it the best to be expected this session, an education coalition has thrown its support to Gov. Bill Graves' plan for financing elementary and secondary education.
Members of the Kansas School Finance Coalition said Wednesday that they would spread the word at home and in the Legislature that Graves' $112 million plan jump-starts the debate over education spending.
"While the proposal does not achieve all of the goals we have established for adequate funding for Kansas public education, it is a major step in the right direction," said Craig Grant, lobbyist for the Kansas National Education Assn. and a member of the coalition.
Graves wants to raise base state aid per pupil by $110, to $3,930 from the current $3,820; increase the reimbursement for special education costs; and provide more than $34 million in incentive programs for teachers and districts to improve.
To finance the plan, the state would raise the sales tax to 5.1 percent from the current 4.9 percent and increase its gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by 2 cents.
The plan, combined with Graves' budget recommendations in January, would increase spending for public education by $179 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1. The state expects to spend $2.26 billion on public schools in the current fiscal year.
Before the start of the legislative session, the coalition recommended a $600 million education plan.
Grant was flanked by more than a dozen superintendents, all of whom said Graves' plan addresses immediate needs but does not solve problems from declining enrollments and a growing number of teacher vacancies.
The Department of Education said 189 of 304 school districts expect enrollments to decline in the 2001-02 school year.
Grant said KNEA surveyed 800 people statewide on a possible tax increase for education. The poll found 65 percent favored a tax increase, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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