KASB leaders credit a strong network of local public school advocates, open dialogue with Legislators, and effective partnerships among education organizations for one of the most positive Legislative sessions for public education in recent years.

The 2024 session fully funded the Gannon school finance law, including the cost-of-living adjustment in base state aid to help school districts keep up with inflation. It also provided the largest increase in special education state aid since 2019.

The Legislature also passed bills dealing with school cardiac emergency response plans, changing how students are counted for funding purposes based on either the current or prior fiscal year, and creating a new state literacy initiative to improve reading.  The bills were passed with broad, bi-partisan majorities. KASB supported the final version of each, often after considerable amendments to the original proposals.

“This session, there was a real effort to address the big issues by listening to all sides and building a consensus on the best way forward,” said Leah Fliter, KASB’s Assistant Executive Director for Advocacy. “The Legislature and Governor approved bills that will help public schools better prepare all students to lead successful lives as adults and did not advance bills that would hinder schools in that work.”

Fliter and KASB Governmental Relations Specialist Shannon Kimball thanked Legislators “who listened to those of us at the Statehouse every day, and also listened to local school leaders who were their constituents about the real impact of legislative action.” They also thanked the Kansas State Department of Education for helping craft the details of legislation.

Fliter and Kimball praised the KASB Advocacy Network (KAN), made up of school board members and administrators who worked to communicate KASB’s advocacy positions to their Senators and Representatives. The group coordinated their efforts with KASB staff through online meetings, email, and social media.

KASB also worked with other educational organizations and advocacy groups to coordinate advocacy on common positions and minimize conflict over differences. These organizations included the Kansas State Board of Education, United School Administrators (USA), Kansas Association of Special Education Administrators, Kansas National Education Association, Kansas PTA, and Game On for Kansas Schools. This combined effort was particularly important in finally providing a significant increase in special education state aid, after years when funding fell further behind the special education excess cost formula.

“School leaders just kept up the pressure by showing how special education underfunding has been hurting the whole system,” said Fliter. For example, she noted efforts by USA to provide a common template for districts to share facts about the impact of underfunding special education on their individual districts.
Kimball said the 2024 session shows the power of “consistent, respectful communication” and the importance of school leaders building relationships, even with elected officials who  may not always (or often) agree with you.

“Building a relationship means you talk about your position, but you also listen and try to understand their position, too,” said Kimball. “That may mean some hard conversations, and it may take time. The goal is to try to find some shared values and to build trust. They need to see you as a trusted source of information. Remember, unless a legislator is deeply involved in education issues, they may not know much about or closely follow those bills. If they don’t get accurate information from you, they will get misinformation or disinformation from somewhere else.”

“During the session, we sometimes heard from people who felt they just weren’t getting through to their Legislators,” said Fliter. “They would be disappointed by how their Legislators were voting. But at the end of the session, when the final votes were taken, they saw they had made a difference. Maybe the Senator or Representative didn’t vote how school leaders wanted on everything, but they were willing to help on some issues, or move closer than expected.”

KASB advocates stressed the need to show appreciation for positive action and to keep in touch with elected officials. They said the interim period between sessions when Legislators are “back home” is a great time to strengthen those relationships. In addition, some new ties will have to be constructed if there are changes due to the 2024 election.