Four Johnson County, Kansas school districts — Blue Valley, De Soto, Olathe and Shawnee Mission — have hired law firm Lathrop GPM to evaluate a potential lawsuit against the state over what they say is 15 years of special education underfunding.
The core issue
Kansas law requires the state to reimburse 92% of districts' special education "excess costs" — the gap between what it costs to educate students with disabilities and general education spending. The districts, organized as the Kansas Public School Funding Coalition, say the state hasn't hit that threshold since 2011.
What it's cost districts
- The four districts serve roughly 83,000 students combined
- They diverted $119 million from general education budgets in the 2024-25 school year to cover the special-ed funding gap
- Reaching the legally required 92% reimbursement rate would take about $225 million in additional state funding
