Kansas 'Teachers of the Year' call for lawmakers to fully fund special education

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Funding for schools is on the minds of a lot of Kansans, including some of the state's top educators who took the time out of their day to express their feelings at the Statehouse on Tuesday.

Governor Laura Kelly says she's committed to fully funding special education. That's something Kansas schools haven't seen in more than a decade. That's why 13 Kansas teachers, who have all at one point in their careers been named "teacher of the year," are teaming up to call on lawmakers to pass a clean education funding bill.

Under Senate Bill 113, public schools in Kansas would receive an additional $72,000,000 each year for the next five years. This funding would do more than help out the average student.

"Our education funding bill will be a fully funded bill with SPED in it, Special Education Funding," Rep. Dan Hawkins said.

Currently, funding in Kansas for special education is near 71%. Kansas law requires that number to be at 92%. That hasn't been done since 2011. By fully funding special education, 2017 Kansas Teacher of the Year Jason Sickle says it will go a long way.

"Whether it's our students who are gifted and going to go on and tackle the world's problems, but also those students who need, they need the most help," Sickle said. "And that requires extra time, extra commitment and extra work from so many of our staff members. So it takes that village approach, and it takes the funding to make sure that every single student is successful."

By providing this funding, Justin Coffey, 2016 Kansas Teacher of the Year, believes it will give districts throughout the state more control on how they handle special education.

"We have local school boards making decisions. We have local classroom teachers doing their best in the classrooms and I think that's one of the foundations that our education system is built on," Coffey said. "So, I think that it's important that local districts have control and that the state just fund each school district fully so that local boards can make decisions about what's best for their kids."

Hawkins adds no matter what, he wants people to be assured that their children will be funded and get the resources they need to succeed.

"The $72,000,000 was her ask," Hawkins said. "If she vetoes that bill, no it will not be there, but they will be funded. They will be constitutionally funded, so they will have funding. We don't have to worry about that."