4 Johnson County school districts take step toward suing Kansas over special education funding

August 13, 2026 - 01:16

Four school districts in Johnson County are pushing forward with plans to take legal action against the state of Kansas, arguing that lawmakers have consistently underfunded special education programs for the past decade and a half. Blue Valley, De Soto, Olathe, and Shawnee Mission are jointly claiming that the state has not met its statutory duty to cover the full cost of special education services, leaving local taxpayers to pick up the slack.

According to the districts, the shortfall has grown so severe that they collectively spent more than 119 million dollars of their own budgets on special education just in the last school year. That figure, they argue, represents money that should have been provided by the state under Kansas law, which requires the state to fund special education at a specific level. Instead, the districts say they have been forced to divert funds from general classroom operations, teacher salaries, and other essential programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

The move toward litigation has been building for months, with district leaders saying they have exhausted other options, including repeated appeals to the state legislature and the governor's office. They argue that the chronic underfunding is not just a budget problem but a matter of legal compliance and basic fairness for students who require additional support. A lawsuit, if filed, would ask the courts to compel the state to fulfill its funding obligations, potentially forcing a major shift in how Kansas allocates education dollars. The districts have not yet set a date for filing, but the joint action signals a growing frustration among local school boards that the state has ignored their concerns for too long.