Kansas Governor Sam Brownback says it will be tough to avoid K-12 education spending cuts in the face of a budget deficit next fiscal year. When asked what he’ll propose, Brownback wouldn’t give details. But he says it will not be easy to avoid cuts to schools after lawmakers increased funding this year in response to a court ruling.
“To maintain a $230 million increase over one year, that is really hard to do. We will look at all the options on it,” says Brownback.
Brownback recently announced cuts to balance the current fiscal year’s budget. He cut the state pension plan by $40 million and said that helped avoid cuts to education spending in the current year. Democrats point out that Brownback counted the pension money as education spending during the fall campaign.