Kansas lawmakers do not act on school funding as deadline looms

[June 02, 2016]  By Brendan O'Brien
 
 (Reuters) - Kansas lawmakers on Wednesday did not act on a state Supreme Court order to create a more equitable funding formula for education, leaving open the possibility that public schools across the state are shut down in June.

Both chambers of the Republican-controlled legislature adjourned until January on Wednesday afternoon, five days after the state's high court gave lawmakers until June 30 to fix funding disparities between rich and poor districts or face a shutdown of the state's public schools.

Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican, said lawmakers were not ignoring the order, but were opting not to act at this time, according to media reports.

Republican Governor Sam Brownback vowed in a statement to work with the state's attorney general and legislative leadership, but did not say whether he would call a special session of the state legislature this summer to tackle the funding issue and looming deadline.

"The courts should not be playing politics with our children’s education," he said.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that some Republicans said they believe appropriating an additional $40 million for public schools would satisfy the court's order, while other Republicans said they needed time to review the rule and consider their next steps.

All Kansas "kids' futures damaged by inequitable funding. It's immoral and hurts entire Kansas economy and society," the Johnson County, Kansas Democratic Party said in a Tweet.

The state legislature passed a new bill in April to fix issues identified by the court. The court said in its ruling released on Friday that the bill corrected part of the problem in the original legislation but failed to adequately address all the inequities.

The measure "creates intolerable, and simply unfair, wealth-based disparities among the districts," the judges wrote in the 47-page ruling.

Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, a Republican, said in a statement that the state Supreme Court was attempting to shift the public focus away from a controversial decision to throw out the death sentences of two convicted killers, noting that five of the seven justices are up for election in November.

"The court appears to be holding Kansas school children hostage in order to distract the public," he said.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.