BASE and CPI-U Midwest

Background History

The 1992 Legislature enacted the School District Finance and Quality Performance Act (SDFQPA) to replace the School District Equalization Act, which allowed wide disparities in tax rates and expenditures for school districts. The SDFQPA was based on a weighted student formula that provided a base amount of money per student, and also provided additional funding to meet certain student or district characteristics, such as at-risk students or school districts with declining enrollments. The SDFQPA also allowed school districts to adopt Local Option Budgets (LOBs) in addition to aid provided by the State. The SDFQPA, although regularly amended, was the primary school finance law from school year (SY) 1992-1993 through SY 2014-2015.

The 2015 Legislature repealed the SDFQPA and enacted the Classroom Learning Assuring Student Success Act (CLASS Act) in its place. The CLASS Act replaced the weighted student formula of the SDFQPA with a two-year block grant to school districts. School districts could still adopt LOBs, but state equalization aid was included in the block grant. The CLASS Act was the main school finance law for SY 2015-2016 and SY 2016-2017.

Between 2014 and 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court issued seven opinions on the Luke Gannon v. State of Kansas case (Gannon). The Gannon litigation concerns whether the Kansas Legislature is in compliance with Article 6, Section 6 of the Kansas Constitution regarding suitable provisions for finance of the educational interests of the state. Gannon I reiterated that Article 6 contains at least two components: equity and adequacy. The Supreme Court has confirmed that these two issues have been resolved under the current school finance formula. The Supreme Court retains jurisdiction of the case to ensure continued implementation of the scheduled funding.

Current School Finance Formula

The 2017 Legislature enacted the Kansas School Equity and Enhancement Act (KSEEA), which reinstituted a weighted enrollment formula similar to the SDFQPA. The weighted full-time equivalent (FTE) of a school district is multiplied by a coefficient to determine the Total Foundation Aid the district receives in its general fund. This multiplier is the Base Aid for Student Excellence (BASE).

Total Foundation Aid = BASE x Weighted FTE Enrollment

The Total Foundation Aid is used to determine State Foundation Aid with the following formula:

State Foundation Aid = Total Foundation Aid – Local Foundation Aid.

BASE Increases

For the past several years, there have been scheduled increases to the BASE that were set by the Kansas Legislature. The 2018 Legislature increased the BASE over a five-year period to arrive at an amount of $4,713 by SY 2022-2023. The 2019 Legislature further increased the BASE over a four-year period to arrive at an amount of $4,846 by SY 2022-2023. The BASE amounts for the past five school years are outlined in the table below.

School Year	BASE
2018-2019	$4,165
2019-2020	$4,436
2020-2021	$4,569
2021-2022	$4,706
2022-2023	$4,846

If the appropriation in a school year for State Foundation Aid is insufficient to pay computed entitlements for all school districts, the Kansas State Board of Education will prorate State Foundation Aid payments for all schools based on the available funding.

SY 2023-2024 BASE

Beginning in SY 2023-2024, the BASE will be adjusted by the average percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) in the Midwest region during the three immediately preceding school years.

School Year	BASE
2023-2024 Actual	$5,088
2024-2025 Estimated	$5,381
2025-2026 Estimated	$5,623

Based on the three-year average percentage increase in CPI-U Midwest, the SY 2023-2024 BASE amount is $5,088. The fall 2023 projected estimates for the BASE for SY 2024-2025 and SY 2025-2026 are in the table below.