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May 11 Supreme Court hearing on school finance

Did state lawmakers make the grade?

The Supreme Court hearing on state lawmakers school funding proposal was testy at times. Onlookers were surprised by the level of frustration exhibited by the Court.

"Based on the tone of the hearing it is reasonable to infer that the Court has doubts that the Legislature has met its burden to fix the school finance act," said KNEA General Counsel David Schauner.

After a few moments of opening comments, the Court raised concerns about whether there was factual, credible evidence used by the legislature in arriving at funding decisions made in HB 2247. Every one of the six justices asked questions on issues ranging from whether changes made would further disequalize the money available to school districts to concerns about local option budgets, cost of living and declining enrollment weightings to the lack of a long-term plan for maintaining proper funding.

"State lawmakers were finally held accountable," said KNEA President Christy Levings. "The Court asked the state's attorney to provide data that showed how legislators determined the base aid per pupil. The Court wanted to know what facts the Legislature used to arrive at its funding decision. The state's attorney could not do it."

At stake was how well the Legislature responded to the High Court's Jan. 3 order to increase education funding above its present $2.7 billion and distribute those funds fairly among 301 school districts. Legislators approved a $142 million increase, using existing state revenues and allowing school districts to increase their spending through higher local property taxes.

Testimony regarding the improvements and outstanding achievement by Kansas schools was used by the state as rationale NOT to increase state funding.

KNEA and the other education advocate organizations have maintained that the funding levels were chosen not on the actual cost but rather on how much money the legislature could come up with without raising taxes and that the local option budget, cost of living weighting, and extraordinary declining enrollment provisions of the bill will be available only to the wealthiest school districts and so exacerbate funding disparities.

"I was heartened by the specific and direct questions asked by the justices. They were obviously well prepared and they understand the urgent timing of their decisions," Levings said. School starts again in 100 days. Administrators and local school boards make staffing decisions based on how much state and local revenue they will receive for the school year. Without solid numbers, they'll have trouble determining how many teachers to hire, what programs to adjust or how much to increase salaries.

Meanwhile: Keep Bargaining

The hearing is the latest development in the lawsuit filed in 1999 by parents and administrators in the Dodge City and Salina school districts. Schauner said the Supreme Court decision is a complicated one, "full of unintended and unknowable consequences. Until the decision comes -- keep bargaining. Continue to develop options about how to structure current and potential money," he said. "Meanwhile, there are plenty of non-money issues to discuss: better grievance procedures, arbitration provisions and maintenance of standards clauses."

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