The Education Funding Task Force and the Next School Finance Formula
By Emily Barnes | August 18, 2025
The majority of Kansas’ public school finance formula expires in the summer of 2027, and a special legislative task force was established by the 2024 Legislature to review and make recommendations for the next formula.
The Education Funding Task Force has been charged with providing guidance to calculate a formula for student success that is consistent, reliable, and equitable while providing meaningful accountability measures. They are expected to understand the system’s funding streams and sources, as well as determine what student achievement and success measures look like.
Shortly after lawmakers’ return to the Statehouse in January 2025, the Education Funding Task Force held its first meeting and began reviewing the current school finance formula and how it is disbursed, including determinations for special education and related services.
The Education Funding Task Force is required to report recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 11, 2027, that provide for a new school finance formula to replace the current Kansas School Equity and Enhancement Act (KSEEA) when it expires July 1, 2027. The report will be based upon the Task Force’s review of the current school finance system and academic reporting and achievement goals.
As the Task Force completes its work, members must remember their charge to not only review the current school finance system, but also to consider the methods for determining and disbursing Special Education State Aid. The funding levels, sources, and impact that come into the system and the academic achievement outcomes and measures of student success that come out of the system must also be evaluated.
The new funding formula must be reasonably calculated to have all students meet or exceed the “Rose Capacities” (a set of standards that indicate career and/or college readiness after graduation) and provide adequate and equitable funding with meaningful accountability measures. When considering academic reporting requirements in relation to state assessments, the Task Force must remember the goal to have 75% of all students achieving proficiency as determined by a score of performance level 3 or 4 on state assessments.
Task Force Makeup
The Task Force members are appointed in the following ways:
- The Senate President and Speaker of the House each appoint two legislative members;
- The Minority Leaders of each chamber appoint one legislative member each;
- The State Board appoints a member of the State Board to the Task Force, as well as superintendents from a rural school district and an urban school district;
- The Speaker of the House appoints a lawmaker who is a parent of a K-12 student; and
- The Senate President selects a member who is a current or retired public school teacher.
Finally, four non-voting members include the Chairperson of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet (or the Chairperson’s designee), the KSDE Deputy Commissioner of Fiscal Administrative Services, the KSDE Director of Special Education and Title Services, and the Director of Budget.
How They’ll Work
The Task Force meets for two days each month until September 2025, during which they will wrap up any final items for discussion. This year’s goal is to present the 2026 Legislature with a summary of the work completed by the Task Force thus far when they return to the Statehouse this coming January. They will continue their work in 2026 and present a final report or proposal to be voted on during the 2027 legislative session.
To navigate the current conversation, the Education Funding Task Force agreed to rely upon a toolkit from the Education Commission of the States (ECS), which is a nonpartisan research organization that compiles information for states to use when they consider various decisions. By using the ECS toolkit, the Task Force has committed to five priorities: its work will be transparent, student centered, adequate, fair, and sustainable. To guide themselves, they will be challenged to answer the question, “How is what we’re doing benefiting student outcomes?”
Ultimately, the state is responsible for providing one formula that allows all districts to reasonably calculate their budgets to meet students’ specific needs. It's a tall task and no small effort. So, we’ll spend some time understanding what the Task Force is undertaking and how that should benefit generations of young Kansans.
In our next blog post, we’ll begin to summarize what the Task Force has covered so far – and where they plan on going next to craft the next school finance formula.
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