Kansas Senate passes school finance overhaul

Gov. Sam Brownback will have a chance to sign a bill overhauling the way the state pays for schools – a proposal from his State of the State address – after the Kansas Senate approved the bill Monday.

The 25-14 vote pushes the state closer to a showdown with courts over school funding.

A district court hinted Friday that it could intervene to block the policy change while it considers an ongoing lawsuit brought by school districts. An earlier nonbinding ruling by the court said Kansas must spend at least $548 million more on schools.

GOP lawmakers have accused the court of overstepping and trying to insert itself in the legislative process.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, called the bill the governor’s unconstitutional and intentional attempt to evade court orders for equitable and adequate education funding.

SB 7 would repeal the state’s school finance formula, which earmarks money for specific needs, such as transportation or bilingual education. Districts instead would receive flexible block grants. Proponents say the change will enable more money to be directed to classrooms.

The school funding overhaul is central to Brownback’s policy plans because aid to public schools is the biggest item in the state budget and settling it lays the groundwork for resolving other tax and spending questions.

Several members of the governor’s staff attended the Senate debate on the bill.

“The only answer I can give you is he is pleased that it passed and he looks forward to receiving and reviewing the bill,” said Eileen Hawley, the governor’s communications director.

Districts’ views

Few school districts supported the change, which has been lauded by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and organizations advocating for conservative economic policies.

The bill includes a funding reduction for the current year. The Wichita school district would receive $4.8 million less this year than if lawmakers had taken no action.

The bill locks financing into place for the next two years until a new formula is developed. The block grants expire in 2017.

Mike Rodee, a member of the Wichita school board, called the bill’s passage “a pretty sad day for Kansas kids.”

“We (board members) need to take a step back and take a moment and breathe a little bit now that we know where we’re headed and get our minds together and make what’s best with what we got,” he said.

The bill is being sent to the governor less than two weeks after it was introduced on March 5. When the House passed the bill last week, Republicans used a procedural move known as a “gut and go,” placing it in the shell of a Senate bill. That allowed senators to concur on the bill quickly without amendments.

Hensley said the procedure stifled debate in the Senate and sped the legislation through without proper vetting.

Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, said that wasn’t the case. The Senate held hearings on a similar bill last year, and it has been thoroughly reviewed, she added.

Wagle accused the Shawnee County District Court of trying to hamper debate.

A three-judge panel said Friday that it could act to “preserve the status quo” while the case is considered. It also added the state treasurer, who is responsible for making payments to schools, and the revisor of statutes, who is responsible for putting laws into effect, as defendants in the case.

“It’s quite astounding what they’ve done and clearly out of line,” Wagle said. “Clearly they’ve shown that they’re an activist court and they’re trying to insert themselves in the legislative process before the bill even becomes law, which is just unheard of in this state and nationally.”

John Robb, the attorney for school districts suing the state for more funding, said the block-grant bill would be unconstitutional because it increases funding gaps among districts and locks in that inequity for the next two years.

“There is no interpretation that you can come up with that this block-grant bill is equitable,” he said.

Alan Rupe, another lawyer representing the school districts, said he expected to ask the court to halt the bill after Brownback signs it into law.

‘Misinformation’ cited

Hensley contended on the Senate floor that supporters of the bill had used misinformation. When it was unveiled, GOP leaders said it increased education funding by more than $300 million. But a little less than half of that is money that was appropriated last year, he said, and much of the rest is pension money.

“That is not putting more money into the classroom,” he said.

Sen. Ty Masterson, R-Andover, one of the bill’s co-authors, said it was opponents who had engaged in a campaign of misinformation.

“The fear is incredible,” Masterson said. “A young woman called my office, told me her daughter was in tears because she didn’t think she’d have a school next year. It just makes me angry, because the response I’d love to make is, ‘Then stop lying to her.’ ”

Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiwaitha, who voted for the bill, said it removes “that Harry Potter cloaking cape” from school finance and that block grants would give the public a clearer view of the total the state spends on schools.

The block grants, which represent the bulk of state funding for education, will be $3.5 billion statewide next year and about $3.57 billion the following year.

Budget shortfall

Superintendents for the Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission school districts – both in Johnson County – have supported the proposal as the best option to ensure stable school funding in the face of the state’s budget problems.

Brownback and the Legislature must close budget shortfalls projected at nearly $600 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The problems arose after lawmakers cut personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging to stimulate the economy.

Many other districts, both urban and rural, have voiced concerns.

Sen. Tom Hawk, D-Manhattan, whose district includes Fort Riley, said the bill sends a message to the U.S. Defense Department, which is weighing whether to reduce the number of troops at the base, that Kansas does not value the education of military families.

Student populations in districts near military bases bounce up and down as families are transferred to and from the base. Under this bill, the school finance system would no longer react accordingly if these districts saw a large increase or decrease in the number of students.

Clash with courts

Relations between the courts and the Legislature have been rocky over the years, partly because of a 2005 state Supreme Court decision ordering the state to spend millions more on public schools. Lawmakers have long argued that they – not the courts – control the state’s spending decisions.

At Brownback’s urging, the Legislature has tried changing the way Supreme Court judges are selected.

Pending legislation would have the governor appoint Supreme Court judges with the consent of the state Senate. The governor now picks from three candidates recommended by a panel of lawyers and nonlawyers.

That bill is believed to be short of the votes needed for passage in the House, but a showdown with the courts could give it a lift.

“The more they get political,” said Rep. Scott Schwab, R-Olathe, “the more votes we get for judicial selection.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Kansas Senate passes school finance overhaul."