Print edition: 
School districts certainly have grounds for suing the state again. After all, they won an earlier lawsuit over inadequate school funding, yet the state is reneging on that funding obligation.
And though the budget cuts this year and likely next are primarily due to the economic downturn, the Kansas Constitution does not say that the state must suitably fund education only when times are good.
That said, given that the state's budget is facing a near crisis, it's not helpful for school districts to be threatening another lawsuit at this time. Nor would suing be sensitive to the challenges — and much deeper budget cuts — that other agencies and services are experiencing.
The Wichita school board voted last week to become a full member of Schools for Fair Funding. That group's earlier lawsuit and a Kansas Supreme Court order resulted in the Legislature increasing school funding by about $600 million since 2005.
However, because of the sharp drop in tax revenues, the Legislature cut K-12 spending by $135 million this fiscal year. The state also owes districts about $100 million for increased enrollments and other costs that it is unlikely to pay, and Gov. Mark Parkinson may make additional cuts to funding allotments later this month. The Legislature is likely to cut school funding again next fiscal year.
As a result, the Schools for Fair Funding group is considering suing to force the state to meet its funding responsibility.
The school districts are appropriately concerned about how budget cuts could affect kids. After all, even a year or two of budget cuts can harm a child's educational progress. And while the state is cutting funding, the federal No Child Left Behind law is continuing to raise performance demands on schools.
The districts also are wisely concerned that the budget reductions could become permanent. They don't want the reduced levels of state aid to become the new funding base — and thus take years to get back to the funding level that the state committed to as a result of the lawsuit.
School districts also aren't wrong in noting that many lawmakers — including most of the GOP members of the south-central Kansas delegation — have not been very supportive of education spending, and that it has taken court action to get the Legislature to meet its constitutional mandate.
Still, school districts are not islands unto themselves. They are part of communities that are experiencing significant economic hardships.
School districts also are part of a state budget that has other important obligations. And though state lawmakers should consider raising taxes and eliminating some sales-tax exemptions as ways to help with the budget shortfall, the reality is that protecting schools from more budget cuts likely will mean even less money for social services and prisons and higher education. Cuts to some of those programs — particularly social services — could harm kids, too.
School districts are justified in being frustrated. But the economy should start improving soon. And as Parkinson noted, "suing each other in the meantime is probably not productive."
