Lawmakers and the Kansas Supreme Court have been at odds over education funding. Now, legislators are looking to amend the state constitution to leave courts out of funding decisions.
CHANGING STATE CONSTITUTION
Today at 3 p.m., there will be a hearing on House Concurrent Resolution No. 5029. In it, it says that:
• The legislature may levy a permanent tax for the use and benefit of state institutions of higher education and apportion among and appropriate the same to the several institutions, which levy, apportionment and appropriation shall continue until changed by statute.
• All power on education funding will be given to the legislature. It would not be up for judicial review.
• Students cannot be charged for required education in state schools, like K-12. There are exceptions, like with fees and supplemental charges allowed by law.
• No religious sect or sects shall control any part of the public educational funds.
The proposal, by the Committee on Taxation, says that the purpose of this amendment is to state that the financing of the educational interests of this state is exclusively a legislative power and cannot be altered or revoked by any state court.
You can see House Concurrent Resolution No. 5029 by clicking here.
COURT RULES FUNDING NOT ADEQUATE
Last year, lawmakers approved an additional $300 million in aid to state schools over two years. The court ruled in October that the state’s current spending of more than $4 billion a year is not sufficient under the state constitution. The court said a plan must be made by April 30.
“We will not allow ourselves to be placed in the position of being complicit actors,” they wrote, “in the continuing deprivation of a constitutionally adequate and equitable education owed to hundreds of thousands of Kansas school children.”
You can see the Supreme Court’s findings by clicking here.
HOUSE REJECTS $522 MILLION BOOST IN AID
The Kansas House has rejected a proposal to phase in a $522 million increase in aid to the state’s public schools over five years.
The vote Monday was 65-55 against giving first-round approval to a bill that Republican leaders believed would meet a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to boost education funding.
Leaders of the House’s GOP majority immediately scheduled another debate on school funding for today.
Many Democrats did not think the spending increase was big enough, while some conservative Republicans wouldn’t support the increase in the bill.
GOP leaders said the measure was about as much as the state could afford without increasing taxes.