Print edition: 
School lawsuit —Last week the Garden City USD 457 board narrowly approved, 4-3, joining Schools for Fair Funding. Some board members saw the move as necessary to make sure the district receives adequate funding. Others were reluctant to spend taxpayer dollars to sue the state. Whether SFFF does indeed head to the courtroom remains to be seen. At the meeting, Rep. Jeff Whitham, R-Garden City, told the school board that the state economy showed encouraging signs, and urged communication with legislators over a lawsuit. Fair enough. But when it comes to communication, school districts need to hear that the state is indeed committed to minimizing future reductions by supporting new ways to raise revenue. Short of that, school boards can only anticipate more cuts their districts can't afford.— Garden City Telegram
Delayed funding — If we needed to hear an alarm bell, we have heard one. USD 465 at Winfield came close to not making its December payroll. Delays in the delivery of state aid to local school districts have become common in Kansas, especially in June and near the end of the calendar year. The state is obviously scraping the bottom of its cookie jar and so are local school districts. It is past time for local lawmakers to take steps to restore the flow of state revenue. Ending, at least temporarily, state sales-tax exemptions for special interests would be a good place to start.— Winfield Daily Courier
Capitol renovations — We heard all of the arguments in favor of continuing the $285 million renovation of the state Capitol building. The work was desperately needed, we were told, and the Statehouse would be a true showplace when the project was finished. Many artisans had been assembled for restoration work, and it would cost far more to suspend the project and restart it later. All of those justifications probably are valid, but there simply is something unseemly about legislators moving into a new wing of offices filled with new, high-quality furnishings while many public school districts across the state are trying to figure out how to make their December payrolls. It just isn't right.— Lawrence Journal-World
Missing inmate — For about 14 days, Hutchinson Correctional Facility inmate Chauncey Howard seemed to be a lucky man. After a court hearing in Sedgwick County, Howard was accidentally released from the Sedgwick County Jail — even though he was barely into a 29-month sentence for aggravated battery. He should have returned to Hutchinson that day, but an error in Wichita prompted his immediate release. Additional oversight, however, kept officials from realizing the error until 11 days later, when Howard called the Kansas Department of Corrections asking for the "gate money" inmates typically receive upon their release. That is when Howard made a series of mistakes that are nearly certain to land him additional time in prison, including avoiding law enforcement after he had been told of his inadvertent early release. What is less certain, though, is who will be held responsible for such an egregious oversight and what steps ultimately will be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again. —Hutchinson News
