According to a new audit, Kansas lawmakers have failed to meet a state requirement to fund special education and that's making it difficult for school districts to hire specialized teachers.
The audit says that last year, districts received almost $5,000 less per special ed teacher than the funding level set in state law.
The Kansas Association of School Boards says full funding would allow many districts to offer higher pay and recruit more special ed teachers.
Rob Gilligan, with the KASB, says schools must still provide special ed services, but that becomes more difficult if the state isn’t providing full funding.
“Those dollars will oftentimes be shifted from the general fund, which decreases available dollars for other educational programming,” he said following release of the audit.
The audit recommends fully funding special education services or changing the requirement in state law. Special ed funding is one of the education issues lawmakers will likely consider next year.
Stephen Koranda has more: