Public education in Kansas

K-12 education in Kansas

Education facts

State superintendent: Randy Watson

Number of students: 497,753

Number of teachers: 36,406

Teacher/pupil ratio: 1:14

Number of school districts: 287

Number of schools: 1,305

Graduation rate: 87%

Per-pupil spending: $9,828

See also

Kansas State Department of Education • List of school districts in Kansas • Kansas • School boards portal

Public education in the United States Public education in Kansas Glossary of education terms

Note: These statistics are mainly from government sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. Figures given were the most recent as of October 2022.

The Kansas public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2022 Kansas had 497,753 students enrolled in a total of 1,305 schools in 287 school districts. There were 36,406 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 14 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. In 2020, Kansas spent on average $12,697 per pupil. The state's graduation rate was 87 percent in the 2018-2019 school year.

General information

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how Kansas compares to the national level for the most recent years for which data is available.

Public education in Kansas
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher to pupil ratio	Per pupil spending*
Kansas	1,305	287	497,753	36,406	1:14	$9,828
United States	90,323	13,194	47,755,383	2,783,705	1:16	$13,494
*Per pupil spending data reflects information reported for fiscal year 2020. Sources: Education statistics in the United States U.S. Census Bureau, "U.S. School System Current Spending Per Pupil by Region: Fiscal Year 2020" National Center for Education Statistics, "Fast Facts: High school graduation rates"

Academic performance

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Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The chart below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma), Kansas had the highest share of fourth and eighth grade students who scored at or above proficient in math.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Kansas	48%	40%	38%	36%
Missouri	39%	33%	35%	36%
Nebraska	45%	36%	37%	37%
Oklahoma	36%	25%	30%	29%
U.S. averages	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables"

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Kansas and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.

In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.

Kansas schools reported a graduation rate of 85.7 percent during the 2012-2013 school year, tying with Missouri.

In Kansas, more students took the ACT than the SAT in 2013, earning an average ACT score of 21.8.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013
State	Graduation rate, 2013		Average ACT composite, 2013		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Kansas	85.7%	Second	21.8	75%	1752	6%
Missouri	85.7%	Second	21.6	74%	1773	4%
Nebraska	88.5%	First	21.5	84%	1734	4%
Oklahoma	84.8%	Second	20.8	75%	1689	5%
United States	81.4%		20.9	54%	1498	50%
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores" The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013"

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Kansas was lower than the national average at 2.3 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.1 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in Kansas

School choice options in Kansas included charter schools, tax credits, online learning programs and an inter-district open enrollment policy. In addition, about 8.09 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-2012 academic year, and an estimated 2.67 percent were homeschooled in 2012-2013.

Developments

Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)

Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
Media coverage and commentary
U.S. Supreme Court 2019-2020 term
Blaine Amendment (U.S. Constitution)
Blaine amendments in state constitutions
School choice on the ballot
Education on the ballot

See also: Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue

On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which concerned whether the government can exclude religious institutions from student-aid programs. The case related to Article X, Section 6 of the Montana Constitution, also known as Montana’s Blaine Amendment.

In its 5-4 opinion, the court held that the application of Article X, Section 6 violated the free exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution. The majority held Article X, Section 6 barred religious schools and parents who wished to send their children to those schools from receiving public benefits because of the religious character of the school.

The case addressed the tension between the free exercise and Establishment clauses of the U.S. Constitution—where one guarantees the right of individuals' free exercise of religion and the other guarantees that the state won't establish a religion—and the intersections of state constitutions with state law and with the U.S. Constitution.

Kansas is one of the states with a Blaine Amendment.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: Kansas state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2013
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), states spent an average of 19.8 percent of their total budgets on elementary and secondary education during fiscal year 2013. In addition, the United States Census Bureau found that approximately 45.6 percent of the country's school system revenue came from state sources, while about 45.3 percent came from local sources. The remaining portion of school system revenue came from federal sources.

Kansas spent approximately 26.8 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education during fiscal year 2013. The state school systems' revenue came primarily from state funds. As a percentage of its total budget, Kansas spent more on public education than any of its neighboring states. It should be noted that this does not indicate Kansas spent more on its public school system than neighboring states.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems, fiscal year 2013
State	Percentage of budget	Per pupil spending	Revenue sources
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
Kansas	26.8%	$9,828	7.4%	56.4%	36.2%
Missouri	22.8%	$9,597	8.9%	42.2%	48.9%
Nebraska	14.6%	$11,579	9.7%	32.1%	58.3%
Oklahoma	16.2%	$7,672	12.2%	49.2%	38.6%
United States	19.8%	$10,700	9.1%	45.6%	45.3%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report" (Table 8). U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2013, Economic Reimbursable Surveys Division Reports" (Table 5 and Table 8).

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S. to compare all states.

According to the United States Census Bureau, public school system revenues totaled approximately $598 billion in fiscal year 2013.

In Kansas, the primary source of school system revenue was state funding, at $3.2 billion. When compared to its neighboring states, Kansas reported the second lowest total revenue, nearly matching Oklahoma, the state with the second highest reported revenue in this comparison.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2013 (amounts in thousands)
State	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
Kansas	$420,820	$3,193,838	$2,051,126	$5,665,784
Missouri	$894,168	$4,235,564	$4,900,767	$10,030,499
Nebraska	$366,241	$1,217,306	$2,211,092	$3,794,639
Oklahoma	$715,944	$2,890,048	$2,270,083	$5,876,075
United States	$54,367,305	$272,916,892	$270,645,402	$597,929,599
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2013, Economic Reimbursable Surveys Division Reports" (Table 1)

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures totaled approximately $602 billion in fiscal year 2012.

Public education expenditures in Kansas totaled approximately $5.8 billion in fiscal year 2012. Kansas and Oklahoma reported nearly the same total expenditures in fiscal year 2012. That said, Kansas reported greater capital outlay, which is money spent to benefit public assets.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2012 (amounts in thousands)
State	General expenditures	Capital outlay	Other	Total expenditures
Kansas	$4,871,381	$682,545	$205,847	$5,759,773
Missouri	$8,719,925	$894,459	$559,071	$10,173,456
Nebraska	$3,356,734	$348,343	$90,194	$3,795,271
Oklahoma	$5,170,978	$496,206	$81,793	$5,748,976
United States	$527,096,473	$48,773,386	$25,897,123	$601,766,981
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, "Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2011–12 (Fiscal Year 2012)" (Table 5)

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in Kansas, the average salary decreased by 0.7 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
Kansas	$47,805	$49,804	$47,496	$47,464	-0.7%
Missouri	$48,727	$48,373	$47,178	$47,517	-2.5%
Nebraska	$45,421	$49,345	$48,955	$48,931	7.7%
Oklahoma	$42,772	$50,907	$45,130	$44,128	3.2%
United States	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

State agencies

See also: Kansas State Department of Education

The Kansas State Department of Education administers the state's K-12 education system. Specifically, the Department of Education is responsible for administering "the state’s governance of education, standards and assessments, special education services, child nutrition and wellness, title programs and services, career and technical education, and financial aid."

The chief executive of the Department of Education is the Commissioner of Education, who is appointed by the State Board of Education and serves at the board's pleasure. Randy Watson was appointed to the position in 2015.

The governing body of the Department of Education is the Kansas State Board of Education. The board is composed of 10 members elected by district who serve four-year terms. The mission statement of the Kansas State Board of Education reads:

“

To prepare Kansas students for lifelong success through rigorous, quality academic instruction, career training, and character development according to each student's gifts and talents.

”

Unions

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. Kansas ranked 32nd overall for union power and influence, or "weak," which was in the fourth of five tiers.

Transparency

The Kansas State Department of Education maintains a website that contains extensive data and budget information on each of the state's school districts.

Studies and reports

Quality Counts 2014

See also: Education Week survey

Education Week, a publication that reports on many education issues throughout the country, began using an evaluation system in 1997 to grade each state on various elements of education performance. This system, called Quality Counts, uses official data on performance from each state to generate report cards for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report card in 2014 uses six different categories:

1. Chance for success
2. K-12 achievement
3. Standards, assessments and accountability
4. The teaching profession
5. School finance
6. Transitions and alignment

Each of these six categories had a number of other elements that received individual scores. Those scores were then averaged and used to determine the final score in each category. Every state received two types of scores for each of the six major categories: A numerical score out of 100 and a letter grade based on that score. Education Week used the score for the first category, "chance for success," as the value for ranking each state and the District of Columbia. The average grade received in the entire country was 77.3, or a C+ average. The country's highest average score was in the category of "standards, assessments and accountability" at 85.3, or a B average. The lowest average score was in "K-12 achievement", at 70.2, or a C- average.

Kansas received a score of 81.9, or a B- average in the "chance for success" category. This was above the national average. After the "chance for success" category, the state's highest score was in "standards, assessments and accountability" at 81.2, or a B- average. The lowest score was in "the teaching profession" at 67.4, or a D+ average. With the exception of the "chance for success" category, Kansas had below-average scores in all of its categories. The chart below displays the scores of Kansas and its surrounding states.

Note: Click on a column heading to sort the data.

Public education report cards, 2014
State	Chance for success	K-12 achievement	Standards, assessments and accountability	The teaching profession	School finance	Transitions and alignment
Kansas	81.9 (B-)	68.4 (D+)	81.2 (B-)	67.4 (D+)	74.2 (C)	75.0 (C)
Missouri	77.3 (C+)	66.0 (D)	78.9 (C+)	69.3 (D+)	70.5 (C-)	75.0 (C)
Nebraska	83.1 (B)	67.0 (D+)	67.6 (D+)	69.8 (C-)	77.0 (C+)	64.3 (D)
Oklahoma	72.2 (C-)	64.2 (D)	93.3 (A)	71.6 (C-)	66.5 (D)	89.3 (B+)
United States	77.3 (C+)	70.2 (C-)	85.3 (B)	72.5 (C)	75.5 (C)	81.1 (B-)
Source: Education Week, "Quality Counts 2014" A full discussion of how these numbers were generated can be found here.

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

School districts

See also: School board elections portal

District types

Kansas is made up of unified school districts.

School board composition

School board members are elected by residents of the school district. The only exception is Fort Leavenworth School District, where the board is appointed by the commanding general of Fort Leavenworth. Although Kansas state law doesn't specify the number of members a board must have, generally they are made up of seven members elected to four-year terms. Vacancies on the board must be filled within 30 days from the date of the vacancy. Elections are normally held in the spring of odd-numbered election years.

Term limits

Kansas does not impose statewide term limits on school board members.

Elections

See also: Kansas school board elections, 2025

The table below contains links to all school board elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2025 in this state. This list may not include all school districts with elections in 2025. Ballotpedia's coverage includes all school districts in the 100 largest cities by population and the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment.

Editor's note: Some school districts choose to cancel the primary election, or both the primary and general election, if the number of candidates who filed does not meet a certain threshold. The table below does not reflect which primary or general elections were canceled. Please click through to each school district's page for more information.

2025 Kansas School Board Elections
District	Primary	General Election	General Runoff Election	Regular term length	Seats up for election	Total board seats	2022-2023 enrollment
Circle Unified School District 375	8/5/2025	11/4/2025	N/A	4	3	7	2,062
Goddard Unified School District 265	8/5/2025	11/4/2025	N/A	4	3	7	6,310
Haysville Unified School District 261	8/5/2025	11/4/2025	N/A	4	3	7	5,788
Maize Unified School District 266	8/5/2025	11/4/2025	N/A	4	3	7	7,999
Wichita Public Schools	8/5/2025	11/4/2025	N/A	4	4	7	46,796

Path to the ballot

Candidates for school board positions in Kansas file with their respective county. Candidates must pay a $40 filing fee and submit a petition with 4 percent of voters.

Campaign finance

Candidates for local offices file their reports with the county election officer. Candidates must file reports 30 days after the primary (if applicable) and 30 days after the general election. If they receive less than $500, they may file an affidavit of exemption no later than the ninth day before the primary election. They do not have to file finance reports unless their receipts or expenditures are $500 or over, at which time they are subject to the reporting requirements.

Recent legislation

The following is a list of recent education bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Kansas state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Education ballot measures

See also: Education on the ballot and List of Kansas ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked the following statewide ballot measures relating to education.

1. Kansas Regarding Education, Amendment 1 (1990)
2. Kansas Public Education, Amendment 5 (1986)
3. Kansas Board of Education, Amendment 4 (1974)

In the news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kansas education policy. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Public education in Kansas - Google News

See also

• Historical public education information in Kansas
• Kansas state budget and finances
• Kansas Department of Education
• List of school districts in Kansas
• School choice in Kansas
• Charter schools in Kansas
• Kansas
• Education Policy in the U.S.

External links

• Kansas State Department of Education

Footnotes

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