ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
There has been much talk lately regarding the state of education and education funding, and the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) has been keeping track of all of that talk, according to Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson.
“We've been tracking everything since Trump came into office because of talks about what could happen with the U.S. Department of Education, etc. That all became heightened when we got word at the end of March about the ESSER funds – which were disbursed for COVID-19 relief and then extended through the spring of 2026 – being abruptly cut off,” Watson said. “That concerned us greatly because that money was going toward literacy training in Kansas. We started monitoring that situation very closely, and those funds were ultimately restored. Around that same time, with the Title programs, those were put on pause in early July and ultimately allowed to flow again. We've been tracking many situations for quite a while and now, I think we're in a good place, but it's definitely been a bit of a roller coaster.”
Watson added there were a few aspects in particular that needed attention and tracking.
“There were two particularly big funds we were concerned about. The first was the ESSER funds, which were not going to school districts – that had been completely liquidated – those were going toward statewide initiatives like literacy training,” Watson said. “We didn't want to have to shut that down in the middle of doing all of that work because we want to make sure every elementary school teacher is trained in Science of Reading by 2028. But in order to do that, we needed that money, and we had committed to that money and program, so while that money wasn't going to the districts, it was coming to Kansas. In the case of the Title funds, that money primarily flowed to the school districts, and we knew that was going to create hardship for them since school's set to open back up in just a few weeks. The first thing we worked on was ascertaining what other avenues there were for us to get this money to flow back, so there were many conversations with the Kansas State Board of Education, state legislators, Gov. Laura Kelly's office, and our federal delegation. We worked through that process, and we were happy when the money from those two big funds was released for their intended purposes.”
Even though those funds were released, however, Watson said the work is not done.
“For the immediate future, we'll be paying attention to what happens in Congress relative to the budget that's been put forth by the Trump Administration because that budget calls for the elimination of the state department of education, which may or may not have a dramatic effect depending on the programs that get cut,” Watson said. “We'll be watching to see how that goes through Congress because that would effect things going into the 2026-27 school year. We want to make the money continues to be disbursed to the districts and we're being good stewards of those funds, and we'll continue monitoring that to make sure there's nothing untoward that happens.”
Watson said it is somewhat difficult to predict what will happen in the near future.
“My best prediction is there won't be any net effects. There's definitely been an emotional roller coaster because we had the money, then we didn't have the money, and we now have the money again,” Watson said. “There are many aspects that will be planned and some cuts to be made, but for right now, it doesnt look like any of that will be taking place in the short term. I would say final analysis, we'll be able to open the school year with the funding that was planned at the end of the year in May and budgeted in July. But again, we'll definitely be watching everything going on in Congress throughout the next several months to see what happens there. We've been talking about where we can make cuts if there is indeed a reduction of funds. We've also talked about how we could still support literacy training at the state level and where would be some other areas we could go to get the funds to complete that training. School districts are going through the same situation and wondering if they're going to have to cut staff and what would happen even after the contracts have been offered and signed and approved for the next school year. Those questions were being asked even back in July, and I think school districts are really relieved to be able to keep those plans and operate as they were planning to when they finished the 2024-25 school year.”
In spite of everything, Watson said there has been a relatively calm vibe among the KSDE.
“We've actually remained rather optimistic at our level in terms of the funds being restored. It did cause us a lot of extra work, and we had to come up with several contingency plans if things didn't work out, and I know school districts had to do the same,” Watson said. “In a short span of time, we had to look at where we could get the funding to carry out our initiatives and what areas might require cuts in order to make that happen. That's different than planning for something that might happen a year from now, and we're talking having to do all of that work in a 30-day period. But I was always pretty optimistic, and I know our federal delegation worked hard to make sure that money was restored, and I know our state delegation did as well. If cuts need to be made, it's better to go through the process and talk about it all and then make plans instead of having to do everything mid-stream. Again, we'll be keeping an eye on Congress and what they end up doing and/or not doing as it relates to the proposed budget from Trump. We'll see what gets accepted, what gets cut, what gets changed, etc., and that will give us a somewhat preliminary picture of what things will look like for the 2026-27 school year. That's all in the early stages right now since Congress is in recess, but we'll definitely be keeping a weather eye on that.”
The importance of communication in this time, Watson said, is also not overstated.
“We host Zoom meetings every two weeks in the fall, and that will continue depending on what the topics are, and then when we get to the Legislature session in the spring, we increase that to a meeting every week,” Watson said. “If something were to change, we have a built-in communication cycle for the school districts, and we will keep that up this year. We'll make sure to keep in frequent contact with everyone. We'll be continuing to show exactly what we're doing with these funds and how they impact students, and that's with both state and federal funding. We're working with our state and federal leaders to make sure so if something does come up, we can all communicate with each other and ultimately get on the same page in terms of what needs to happen to solve whatever issues come up. And our state and federal delegations have been outstanding so far.”
Overall, Watson said, the funds are very critical to education in Kansas.
“From the state level, the literacy training and mathematics training for teachers is important in terms of professional development. We're training these teachers on how to work better with students and families and at the school level, it's about working with students and families in poverty and working with families that move around a lot,” Watson said. “These are programs used by Liberal, Dodge City, Garden City and other schools all throughout the state. When that money was ceased, there was a lot of strain on those districts in terms of how they'd be able to still provide those services and since money is now back, they can breathe easier knowing they have that money to count on. It's one of those situations where things go way deeper than people think, and we're thankful everyone worked so hard to get the money we'd been allocated back to us. We're very grateful for the money coming back to us, and we're grateful for all the Kansans who pitched in to make sure this got resolved the way it did.”
