Big differences among Republican lawmakers over how much to increase spending on Kansas public schools forced them to return today to the Statehouse under increasing pressure to pass a plan that could satisfy a court mandate on education funding.
Some legislators and Republican Gov Jeff Colyer have worried that a frustrated state Supreme Court would take the unprecedented step of preventing the state from distributing dollars through a flawed education funding system effectively closing schools statewide.
House and Senate negotiators had several rounds of talks Friday afternoon and evening to resolve the differences between their rival education funding plans. But the talks broke off abruptly last night when it became clear that the negotiators werent getting closer to agreeing on the core issue of how much to spend.
The House plan would phase in a roughly USD 520 million increase in education funding over five years. The Senates figure is USD 274 million.
"Folks are talking, and were not getting much closer," House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr, a Kansas City-area Republican, said Friday night. "Were not making progress, at least not at this point."
The Supreme Court gave Attorney General Derek Schmidt until April 30 to report on how the GOP-controlled Legislature responded to an education funding ruling last fall.
Schmidt sent a letter Friday to legislative leaders in both parties, expressing "profound concern" that no school funding bill has passed.
The court declared in October that the states current funding of more than USD 4 billion a year is insufficient for lawmakers to fulfill their duty under the Kansas Constitution to finance a suitable education for every child.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
