Homeschooling saved Kansas taxpayers about $145 million last year, according to analysis by Intellectual Takeout. The Minnesota-based think tank multiplied base state aid per pupil by an approximate number of home schooled students to arrive at the figure.
There were approximately 14,891 home schooled students in the state of Kansas last year, and they saved taxpayers an estimated $144.7 million.
The state doesn’t pay base state base aid per pupil for home schooled students, saving taxpayers money. Nationwide, the Pioneer Institute estimates home schooled students save taxpayers more than $22 billion each year.
The savings and the number of home schooled Kansas students are rough estimates. Kansas doesn’t authorize home schooling, but parents who home school must register their non-accredited private schools, or home schools, with the state. The $144.7 million in savings only reflects base state aid per pupil, which doesn’t include a number of other sources of education funding including federal funds, capital outlay and other sources.
The Kansas Legislature recently adopted a school funding formula that will increase base state aid per pupil to $4,006 for this school year. That number could change, depending on a pending decision by the Kansas Supreme Court. The Court heard oral arguments on the new formula in July. When all costs are included, districts spent, on average, more than $13,000 per student last school year.
As of 2012, about 3.4 percent of all students in the nation, or 1.8 million students, are homeschooled, according to the U.S Department of Education. In 1999, only 1.7 percent of students were home schooled.
