Kansas State Board advances budget requests, endorses mentor funding and special-education target

The Kansas State Board of Education on July 8 approved a package of budget recommendations and program actions to send to the governor and Legislature, including a recommendation that the state pursue 80% funding of special-education excess costs and a state reimbursement for mentor teachers.

The board voted 8-0-2 to recommend adoption of the consensus estimates for state foundation aid, supplemental state aid (local option budget), capital improvement state aid and capital outlay state aid for fiscal year 2027. Those are technical baseline figures the agency must submit under state law as part of its budget recommendation process.

In one of the most closely watched motions, the board voted unanimously, 10-0, to ask the Legislature to work toward funding special-education excess costs at an 80% target for FY2027. Board discussion leading to that vote centered on multi-year shortfalls in the state's statutory obligation to cover 92% of excess special-education costs and the practical effect on districts' general funds and staffing.

The board also restored a state reimbursement request for mentor teachers, voting unanimously to ask the Legislature for a $1.3 million budget enhancement in FY2027 to reinstate mentor stipends for teachers in their initial licensing years. Board members repeatedly said mentoring resources are a top…