The Kansas Supreme Court has ordered the state to increase its spending on public schools, but it didn't say by how much.
The court ruled Thursday that legislators must enact a new education funding law by the end of June.
In the decision, the court calls this "an unfortunate conclusion to have to draw" and says school proved performance data related to funding levels.
The decision comes with the state already facing projected budget shortfalls totaling more than $1 billion through June 2019. Lawmakers are considering rolling back steep income tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
The justices ruled in a lawsuit filed by four school districts in 2010. They argued that legislators were violating the state constitution by failing to finance a suitable education for each of the state's 458,000 students.
The districts argued for an $800 million increase in the state's $4.1 billion in annual aid.
Plaintiffs in the Gannon suit released the a statement, praising the outcome of the ruling:
After a contentious six-year battle, the Kansas Supreme Court has finally confirmed what anyone who has recently stepped inside a Kansas public school already knew: Kansas public education is significantly underfunded. The Court noted that Plaintiffs have proved “not only is the State failing to provide approximately one-fourth of all its public school K-12 students with the basic skills of both reading and math, but that it is also leaving behind significant groups of harder-to-educate students.”
Brownback issued a statement on the ruling:
“The Kansas Supreme Court correctly observes that our education system has failed to provide a suitable education for the lowest performing 25 percent of students. The old funding formula failed our students, particularly those that struggle most. The new funding system must right this wrong.
The Kansas Constitution empowers the legislative branch with the power of the purse. Respecting the separation of powers between our three co-equal branches of government, the Kansas legislature has already begun the work of writing a new school funding system. The Kansas legislature has the opportunity to engage in transformative educational reform by passing a school funding system that puts students first. Success is not measured in dollars spent, but in higher student performance.
Over the last six years, my administration brought new opportunities targeting students who struggle to read and struggle to graduate high school on time. These evidence-based programs like Kansas Reading Roadmap and Jobs for America’s Graduates should be spread statewide, making them available to all students in the bottom 25 percent.
Furthermore, the time has come to equip parents of struggling students with the power they need to determine the best education for their child. If they believe a quality education is not possible in their local public school, they should be given the opportunity and resources to set their child up for success through other educational choices.”
The decision didn’t surprise Overland Park Republican Rep. Stephanie Clayton, who said that now is the time for lawmakers to set aside their differences and govern.
"I believe that ultimately this is a good thing. It applies pressure to the legislature and makes it very clear that we need to get this taken care of and that there is no time to fight. There is only time to fix our problems," said Clayton. "We owe the people of Kansas a well-run state."
Rep. Tom Burroughs, a Kansas City, Kansas Democrat, believes that with a newer and more moderate legislature this session, lawmakers are closer to passing "pro-education policy" than at any point in the previous six years.
"Moving forward [from the court deadline] without a school formula puts the education funding at great risk as to, will the schools open? Will the court take control of the education process? Those are issues that I believe the legislature does not need to have laying before them," said Burroughs.
Plans are already in motion in the House chamber for a school funding proposal that passes the adequacy test according to Fairway Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker.
"There's a much greater number of us interested in getting this right, and by right I mean inline with what the court is asking us to do, at least in our chamber," said Rooker.
But in order to appease the court ruling, any new funding formula would need approval from both chambers and a signature from the governor or a 2/3rds veto-proof majority.
"That is still an uphill battle, so that's where I can’t provide guarantees," said Rooker.
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