An across the board cut to public schools sounds like it would affect all school districts the same way.

Not so.

Democrats who oppose an across the board cut say that depending on how the reduction is administered, it could have drastically different consequences for districts.

“School finance is very complicated,” said 21-year legislative veteran Janis Lee, a Democratic state senator from Kensington. A change in one “moving part” produces difference effects throughout the system.

That is because the funds that schools receive are based on many factors, including how many students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches and how many children receive special education.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee has been dueling over school finance for several days as lawmakers try to close a $186 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has kept school funding flat, which will mean a cut to schools because of increased enrollments and costs.

But Republicans, who dominate the Legislature, want to cut more out of school funding, and have discussed an across the board cut.

An across the board cut to all school funding would hurt poorer districts more than wealthier ones because poorer ones receive additional dollars under the school finance formula for at-risk and special education students.

The poorer districts would fare better if the across the board cut was taken out of “base state aid per student.” That is the amount of money spent on every student in Kansas, regardless of their status.

For example, to cut $45 million from all of school funding would cut the Topeka school district by $1,407,576, while removing the same amount only from base state per pupil statewide would result in a cut to Topeka of $1,291,966. That is a difference of $115,610,

The Lawrence district, however, because it is a wealthier district, would see a cut of $857,655 under a cut of everything, while the cut be $935,432 if it was just base state aid. That is a difference of $77,778.

How cuts are administered also could have an impact on possible litigation down the road. The current school finance formula was developed after the Kansas Supreme Court ordered lawmakers to increase school funding, especially to poorer districts.

Attorneys who filed that lawsuit on behalf of school districts have said they are closely monitoring what the Legislature does.