Gov. Sam Brownback is having the Kansas Legislature's special session on education funding start June 23.
The Republican governor signed a proclamation Wednesday formally summoning the GOP-dominated Legislature back to the Statehouse.
@govsambrownback: leadership agreed committee to start next week so when special session begins, everyone will be ready to go @41ActionNews
— Ariel Rothfield KSHB (@arothfield) June 8, 2016
@govsambrownback: "at some point this decades long cycle of litigation must end and it will" @41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/TEQgcjI5MP
— Ariel Rothfield KSHB (@arothfield) June 8, 2016
He wants lawmakers to respond to a state Supreme Court order last month declaring that public schools won't be able to open after June 30 if legislators don't rewrite school finance laws.
"I’m seeing several plans now where you use a variety of different sources of funding to come up with the $38 million," Brownback said. "I think that’s part of having the committees meet ahead of time. And come up with a plan the committees agree with that we can then run."
The court rejected some changes made earlier this year in how Kansas distributes more than $4 billion a year in aid to its 286 local school districts.
The justices said education funding remains unfair to poor districts. Many Republicans have strongly criticized the ruling, and some have wanted to defy the court.
"I would have preferred the court to have issued this opinion far earlier so at least you have some time for people to coalesce around some ideas," Brownback said. "You know how this process works. You have to get to a majority of votes, and a lot of times that doesn’t happen until the very end and when you get up against the wall, people decide maybe I can do this, I can do that."
Lawmakers adjourned their annual session June 1.
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