School funding fight goes round and round

State leaders underfund public education. Districts sue. Courts order the state to pay more. State leaders balk, then relent, then restart the cycle by failing to keep up with their constitutional obligations and schools’ costs. And round and round it goes.

Kansans would like to exit this ride, for which they pay coming, going and during. That queasy feeling is worse this time, because of the state’s precarious fiscal condition.

The latest inevitable loss for the state came Thursday, with the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision that last year’s hastily passed block grant funding law does not distribute money equitably among districts and that lawmakers must fix it by June 30 or else the court will close schools.

That brought the usual defiant bluster at the Statehouse about “activist” judges having a “temper tantrum” and “bullying” appropriators, raising the appalling possibility that the executive and legislative branches might ignore the high court’s order.

The denunciations last week were as fiery as those a decade ago, when multiple legislative fights, a similar shutdown threat and a special session led to a schools bill that satisfied the high court and, in its view, complied with the constitution. The problem was, that legislative answer didn’t identify any new and certain revenue for the stepped-up school funding. When the economy cratered, schools saw cuts along with every other state-funded service.

Then Gov. Sam Brownback and the 2012 Legislature slashed state income taxes, all but forgetting the state’s duties to schools under the court-ordered remedy. Now there is little cash on hand, for schools or anything else.

Though the court didn’t specify a figure that would restore equity to school financing statewide, estimates start at $50 million. And the main part of the districts’ Gannon lawsuit, concerning adequacy of funding, remains pending; a three-judge panel at the district court level suggested that remedy could reach $548 million.

As the House and Senate each debated and passed budget fixes last week – postponing any response to the court – it was striking to hear lawmakers of both parties voice worry about the state’s finances and distrust of the Brownback administration’s management of them. There was bipartisan heartburn about the relentless diversion of transportation funds, the dangerous understaffing and other problems at Osawatomie and Larned state hospitals, and the proposed scheme to give the governor “flexibility” by delaying state contributions to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.

Trust may be as weak in Topeka as the state’s cash flow. But the sure losers in a constitutional crisis and K-12 shutdown would be children, communities and the state’s economy and reputation.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "School funding fight goes round and round."