Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Court Rules Kansas School Budget 'Inadequate' Under Constitution

The Kansas legislature has long been embroiled in a struggle with its own Supreme Court which has found the funding of its public schools to be inequitable. (Remember Brown v. Bd. of Ed.ofTopeka?)  The Legislature enacted a law which created a special three judge district court to deal with these issues.

The state is led by recently re-elected Gov. Sam Brownback -one of the fiercest advocates of cutting the size of Government. Now the Wichita Times reports three judge panel has found the state's funding to be inadequate. The court's ruling is certain to be appealed.

Court Rules Kansas School Budget 'Inadequate' Under Constitution:

by Caitlin McNeal//Talking Points Memo


 "A Kansas school finance court on Tuesday ruled that the Kansas public school budget is not sufficient and violates the state constitution, the Wichita Eagle reported.

According to a three-judge panel on the Shawnee County District Court, school funding does not meet the "Rose standards," a test for school funding used by multiple states.

In the decision, the court wrote that Kansas needs to establish a required level of school funding and a formula for determining the school budget each year.

 Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) did not immediately announce whether the state would appeal the ruling.

"We will review today's decision carefully. The Governor will work with legislative leaders to determine the best path forward," his office said in a statement, according to the Wichita Eagle, and the newspaper said the decision is likely to be appealed.

 A court panel initially ruled that the state school budget was insufficient and inequitable in 2013, according to the Wichita Eagle. After the state appealed the decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the funding was inequitable, but ordered the lower panel to take another look at whether the state budget was inadequate.

Earlier this month Brownback announced that he would make dramatic budget cuts in order to fill the state's budget deficit. Though Brownback won re-election in 2014, he lost popularity in Kansas due to large tax cuts he initiated in his first term."



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