At Coronado Middle School, sixth-graders are learning about inequalities in math class. It’s a lesson the district hopes students will not have to learn the hard way anymore.
“Three times over the past 25 years, the Supreme Court has said to the state, ‘You are not funding schools in a constitutional manner.’ And if at any point during that, the state had decided to do what the court requires and what the constitution requires, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We wouldn’t be in court,” said David Smith, the spokesman for the KCK Schools District.
Since the school finance lawsuit, millions of dollars have been spent in Kansas courtrooms.
Money spent on attorneys:
State of Kansas: $1,434,271.64
Wichita School District: $1.6 million
Kansas City, Kansas School District: $700,000
Dodge City School District: $220,000
Hutchinson School District: $183,000
The state of Kansas has spent more than $1.4 million on outside counsel, not including costs for eight attorneys in the attorney general’s office, to defend it’s finance formula recently ruled unconstitutional.
The KCK district spent about $700,000.
“It’s not money that comes from the state, so we are not spending money to educate kids,” said Smith. “It’s frustrating to have to go back to court again and again and again to say to the legislature, 'Do your constitutional requirement.'”
Earlier this month, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled block funding unconstitutional. The high court gave lawmakers until June 30 to correct the problem or threatened that schools would be closed in the fall.
A special committee has been tasked to look at ways to fix the problem. If lawmakers do not find a solution by the end of the regular session, the bill could add up.
If lawmakers do not finalize a budget or financing plan by mid-May, day 90 of the session, each additional day would cost taxpayers more than $43,000.
-----
Ariel Rothfield can be reached at ariel.rothfield@kshb.com.
