School funding flunks test

A three-judge panel just told Gov. Sam Brownback and the Legislature what most school districts already knew – that the block-grant funding bill flunks the test for adequacy and equity.

The governor and lawmakers tried to do an end run around the judiciary this spring by repealing the 23-year-old school-finance formula before the Kansas Supreme Court had a chance to rule on the constitutionality of current state funding for schools in the 5-year-old Gannon lawsuit brought by districts.

But on Friday the three-judge panel in Shawnee County District Court saw the hurried, secretly written block-grant bill for what it was – a two-year funding freeze that purports to boost aid but effectively cuts operational funds for most districts. The judges called for a restoration of about $50 million in aid right away related to capital improvements, equalization among districts, and enrollment numbers, and more in 2016 and 2017.

If only districts, students and parents could count on a quick remedy in response to the ruling. They can’t.

Most conservative state leaders don’t want to give K-12 schools a dollar more, and don’t think the courts have a right to pass judgment on school funding anyway.

Plus, the state doesn’t have a dollar more to give right now, because of the severe budget problems created by the 2012 income tax cuts.

No, Friday’s commonsense ruling seems likely to lead right back to court, leaving districts to make do and Kansans to wonder whether that constitutional language about making “suitable provision” for school finance has any meaning. At least Brownback and legislative leaders should knock off the talk about the block-grant bill delivering more money, flexibility and certainty.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "School funding flunks test."