KASB UPDATE: Education advocates urge compliance with court ruling on school finance; committee discussion Friday

Education advocates urge compliance with court ruling on school finance; committee discussion Friday

Education advocates on Thursday urged legislators to raise the necessary funds to comply with a Kansas Supreme Court order on school finance and to leave the court alone. But powerful interest groups and leading state officials have proposed constitutional amendments aimed at the court and they say the recent ruling on school equity can be met within existing appropriations to the school system.

Testimony on school finance and the judicial battle was given to the House and Senate judiciary committees, which conducted a joint meeting in the run-up to the special legislative session that starts June 23. The joint committee meeting will continue Friday in which legislators will discuss possible recommendations to the full Legislature.

Last month, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the Legislature's school finance law failed to provide enough equity funding to poor districts and said an unconstitutional school finance system couldn't extend beyond June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Gov. Sam Brownback and his Republican allies said the court was threatening to close schools and needed to be reined in.

But on Thursday, school groups, including KASB, and education advocates recommended that legislators quickly comply with the court ruling and allocate anywhere from $38 million to $50 million deemed necessary. Here is a link to testimony before the committee.

The school representatives said the Legislature should avoid even the possibility of school closures, saying a shutdown would have a devastating impact on schools, parents, students and the state.

David Smith, a spokesman for Kansas City USD 500, pleaded with legislators, noting that most of his district's students come from impoverished backgrounds and are relying on public school education to "realize the American dream."

KASB, United School Administrators of Kansas, the Kansas School Superintendents Association, representatives of Kansas City, Wichita and Pratt school districts recommended restoration of equity formulas already approved by the court. For districts that could lose funding by returning to previous Local Option Budget equalization, the groups said they would support a "hold harmless" provision if it were provided to all districts in similar circumstances. Later in the day, Johnson County chambers of commerce and school officials from Blue Valley, De Soto, Gardner-Edgerton, Olathe and Shawnee Mission recommended the previous LOB formula and hold harmless.

But the Kansas Chamber, which is the state's largest business lobbying organization, said the funding to provide equity could be taken from schools' "unencumbered funds" and distributed by the Kansas State Department of Education. The Kansas Policy Institute, a group that frequently opposes school spending, recommended legislators use existing school funds even if that meant taking money away from some districts and giving it to others. KPI also said if schools are closed during the current funding dispute, then the state should issue vouchers for students to go to public or private schools.

On the issue of proposed constitutional amendments, state Sen. Jeff King, R-Independence and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, passed to committee members a measure that would prohibit the Kansas Supreme Court or Legislature from closing schools. To amend the Kansas Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate and majority vote during an election.

Kansas Chamber President Mike O'Neal, who is a former speaker of the Kansas House, said the chamber supports such a proposal. KPI said the Legislature should consider an amendment to remove the word "suitable" from the portion of the Kansas Constitution that requires the Legislature to "make suitable provision for the finance of the educational interests of the state."

The Kansas Bar Association submitted testimony that said the notion the court is threatening to close schools is misguided and that the court found the Legislature's law doesn't comply with Kansas Constitution. An attorney for the Kansas Legislative Research Department told legislators the court has many options to enforce the ruling short of closing schools.

Several education advocacy groups said any amendment that would limit remedies of the Kansas Supreme Court would weaken state government and the ability of Kansans to seek judicial redress for wrongs.

The KASB Delegate Assembly adopted a resolution that says, "We support the role of an independent judiciary in enforcing constitutional provisions. We oppose either changing the selection process for judges or limiting the ability of the courts to enforce those provisions, which would weaken the traditional separation of powers in Kansas."

Mark Tallman, associate executive director for advocacy at KASB, said, “The people of Kansas placed the requirement for suitable finance of the educational interests of the state in the state constitution precisely in order to provide a higher standard than ordinary legislative majorities. A constitutional right or requirement that cannot be enforced is not right at all.”