School funding unresolved as deadline looms

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March 28, 2019 - 10:27 AM

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have blown several informal deadlines for boosting funding for public schools to satisfy a court mandate because Republicans who control the Legislature are at odds over how to allocate the new dollars and what policy strings should be attached.

The state’s attorneys must file a written report with the Kansas Supreme Court by April 15, telling the justices how legislators responded to the high court’s ruling last year that spending on public schools is insufficient. The Legislature is set to start its annual spring break April 6 and not return to the Statehouse until May 1.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly urged legislators to pass her plan for an education funding increase of roughly $90 million a year by the end of February. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, told lawmakers they should finish their work by March 15.

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