Education advocates are calling for Kansas lawmakers to muster additional cash for schools and end a lawsuit over education funding. The groups gathered Tuesday at the Statehouse to call for lawmakers to provide the money and not reopen a debate over the state's school finance law.
Lawmakers plowed hundreds of millions of dollars into schools last year in response to a court ruling. The court said it wasn’t quite enough, but adjusting for inflation would fix it.
Judith Deedy, with the group Game On for Kansas Schools, said the state is close to putting the years-long lawsuit to rest.
“We’ve come a long way, we’re almost there," she said. "Please, just finish the job and let’s move on.”
But doing that could cost as much as $100 million more per year.
Some Republicans in the Legislature have doubts the state can pay that and keep the budget balanced long term. They could move to reconsider the school funding deal hatched last year.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.
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