School psychologists are hard for school districts across the state to find, said John Mages.
Mages is the director of Sumner County Educational Services, Wellington, and it is advertising for a school psychologist for next year.
Part of the problem is that a school psychologist must have a school specialist degree which is beyond a master’s degree. The starting pay for a school psychologist – below $50,000 a year in Wellington – makes it a challenging career choice for a graduate with college loans.
They’re still paying off the loans 15 and 20 years after they start working, he said.
Student behaviors are becoming “more severe in school,” Mages said, making those professionals in demand.
Some goals in Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed school budget package are intended to address niches of needs.
It includes:
-Increase the number of school counselors and psychologists by 150 positions annually for the next five years. That would amount to 750 positions. The Kansas Association of School Boards estimated that is a $40 million initiative. “We increased our school counselors during the block grant. I think that’s going to be very important,” said Buhler USD 313 Superintendent Mike Berblinger.
-Achieve the highest teacher pay average of neighboring states by 2023 and have a higher average than Missouri. As of 2016, according to National Education Association Research, the average teacher salary in Kansas was $47,755 and in Missouri, $47,957. Kansas and Missouri both lag behind Nebraska, which had an average teacher salary of $51,386 in 2016.
-Move more schools toward the Kansans Can redesign model, innovating as they focus on readying students for jobs and postsecondary education.
-Allow every high school student to take at no cost 15 dual credit hours – high school and postsecondary credit. That’s “a really big deal,” said Berblinger, because a student is more likely to finish a postsecondary degree if he has a good head start. Also, it would help trim the college debt for new teachers, he said.
-Cover the cost so every student can take the ACT or the Work Keys assessment at no personal expense.
-Expand the Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas program and fully funded the program that covers the community college expenses for high school students working toward a certain career or technical education certificates or degrees.
-Increase school aid by $600 million over five years. Base state aid per pupil, now slightly about $4,000, would be $4,761 by the fiscal year 2023, according to the Administration.
The $600 million increase, following the hikes in state school aid contained in the state budget adopted in June 2017, aligns the overall funding increase with the amount recommended by the Kansas State Board of Education. However, Hutchinson USD 308 Superintendent Gary Price was wary about the five-year timeline in Brownback’s plan.
“We appreciate the Governor’s suggestions and appreciate the $600 million,” said Alan Rupe, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs - including Hutchinson and Dodge City school districts – that brought suit against the state over school funding in 2010.
“The problem is the five-year timeline,” Rupe said.
The $600 million distributed over five years would be diminished by inflation. He said the inflation erosion is $70 million a year or $350 million overall. “So it doesn't result in a $600 million increase if you spread it over five years because of inflation,” Rupe said.
“Same amount of money over two years,” said Rupe, describing his preference.
Price also expressed concern about linking increased school aid to specific programs. Rupe said he absolutely agreed.
“The notion of achievement is something that every school district knows the strategies that work to affect the disadvantaged kids in their district,” Rupe said. Let the folks closest to the students direct the funds, he said.
Rupe said Brownback’s education proposals have “started a very healthy conversation” about the State Legislature’s response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2017 that the school finance formula and funding fell short of being equitable and adequate.