The following is a joint letter, written and signed by the six superintendents of Johnson County school districts.
The Kansas Legislature has the resources to fully fund special education at statutorily required levels this year.
That was the message the Johnson County School Districts delivered in Topeka in mid-January, just as the session was underway. The locally elected Johnson County Boards of Education and superintendents met with legislators who represent parts of our region to advocate for funding, students, and public schools.
At the top of our agenda was a solution for lawmakers that requires no new spending. Based on this year’s state appropriation for K-12 education and the decrease in student enrollment across Kansas, the Legislature already has the resources available to meet its legal obligation. It simply must choose to do so.
The state has approximately $269,000,000 excess due to declining enrollment. The shortfall created by not funding special education in Johnson County is $61,000,000. The state currently has the funds to follow the law and fund special education, and all children in Kansas, by earmarking the funds currently set aside and allocating it to the districts who are supporting special education at the state’s required amount. That still leaves a balance for the state to use the set aside funds for other priorities, while meeting their obligation to all Kansas children.
By statute, the state is required to reimburse 92% of the excess costs that districts incur to provide special education services, including costs for essential equipment, specialized instruction and staffing for students with exceptional needs. Year after year, the state has failed to meet this requirement. Yet school districts must, by law, provide the services special education students require due to their individual needs. The costs increased 11% In Johnson County, or $27,115,058 between 2024 and 2025 for special education. In Johnson County, the six school districts spend $271,953,969 in special education support, yet state and federal aid are only 51% of that total. In order to provide those services, despite the shortfall from the state and the federal government; Johnson County School Districts transfer $132,716,762 from the general fund, which provides services for all 95,000 students in Johnson County, to cover the shortfall created by not meeting the statutory requirement. The last time the Kansas Legislature fully funded special education at the statutory requirement of 92% of excess costs was during the 2010-2011 school year. Year over year, it is the same backwards slide that has resulted in where we are today. In essence, special education is fully funded, because our school districts are covering the shortfall out of general operating budgets. The general population of students is not fully funded and in fact, $1,400 from every student’s allocated amount of $5,378 is transferred to fully fund special education. If the state were to fund special education as required, this allows for school districts to reallocate the transferred funds from special education into the general education classroom, recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and staff, and provide the necessary supplies and equipment that teachers are providing due to the year over year shortfall.
We presented lawmakers with this solution that is affordable and practical.
Fully funding special education should not be a partisan issue. We encourage all Kansas residents to contact your legislators and ask them to support full special education funding at the level required by law. We also advocate for leaving local decisions to the elected board members, rather than making policy decisions in Topeka that are unfunded mandates. Together, our voices can make a difference.
Johnson County School District Superintendents:
Dr. Brent Yeager, Olathe
Dr. Michael Schumacher, Shawnee Mission
Dr. Link Luttrell, Spring Hill
Dr. Brian Huff, Gardner Edgerton
Dr. Cory Gibson, DeSoto
Dr. Gillian Chapman, Blue Valley