Lawmakers reject $500 million increase for Kansas schools, but plan to try again

Kansas lawmakers rejected a plan to increase spending on public schools by $500 million on Monday. The bill was the first Republican-backed response to a Kansas Supreme Court order to adequately fund education.

School districts suing the state for more funding said much of the money wouldn’t have actually ended up going to students. Some Republicans said the state couldn’t afford it.

The House voted down the funding increase in HB 2445 on a 55-65 vote. The first-round vote was not a roll call vote, so there is no record of how lawmakers voted.

Legislators plan to try again Tuesday, debating the same bill and perhaps considering amendments.

“It has traditionally been very hard for a large, controversial proposal to pass on the first shot,” said Rep. Steven Johnson, R-Assaria. He initially offered the $500 million proposal last week.

House Speaker Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, said some lawmakers want additional funding while others want less.

“Today was our first real debate on what that number would be. Hopefully tonight folks will get a better handle what their numbers will be tomorrow and we’ll come back and try again,” Ryckman said.

The size of the increase will play a key role in determining whether the Supreme Court signs off on whatever the Legislature ends up passing. The court ruled last fall that schools are inadequately funded and gave lawmakers until April 30 to say how they would fix that.

Some lawmakers say boosting spending on schools by hundreds of millions will leave little for increases in other parts of state government, such as prisons, foster care and the court.

Other lawmakers worried a $500 million boost would not be enough for satisfy the court. Democrats attempted, unsuccessfully, to add $295 million more to the bill in an effort to compensate for funding lost because of inflation.

The dollar amounts are large, said House Minority Leader Jim Ward, D-Wichita. But he noted that the state’s public school system has more than 490,000 students across 286 districts.

“It is a lot of money. I would say it’s a good investment in the long-term future of this state,” Ward said.

Rep. John Whitmer, R-Wichita, warned future lawmakers will have to figure out how to pay for increased spending.

“You’re writing checks that they’re going to have to cash,” Whitmer said.

Rep. Melissa Rooker, R-Fairway, said she voted yes on the plan, but that $500 million is likely close to the ceiling of what the Legislature can add without a tax increase. She said she isn’t sure what lawmakers will do when they return Tuesday.

“I guess my frustration is that while I, too, would like to do more for schools, I have yet to see anyone suggest a willingness to provide an actual plan for how we do it,” Rooker said.

Schools for Fair Funding — an umbrella group for the districts, including Wichita, who have sued — said much of the $500 million increase would have been lost because the plan does not adjust for inflation until the end of a five-year phase-in period. Schools would have ended up with about $183 million in new funding, the group said.

Attorneys for the districts have previously suggested an increase of $600 million could be enough to satisfy the court. One of those attorneys, Alan Rupe, said an actual increase of $500 million would “sure come closer to what the court is going to be looking for.”

Lawmakers are also considering a constitutional amendment that would give the Legislature the sole authority to decide how much should be spent on schools. Supporters say they think the amendment would make future lawsuits over funding more difficult.

A House committee opened a hearing Monday on the proposal. The committee is expected to begin debating the plan later in the week.

“There’s a group that absolutely wants the constitutional amendment. There’s a group that wants more money. I think both discussions need to happen because that is the whole purpose: to have the discussions. So hopefully, we’ll get to that sooner rather than later,” Johnson said.

Ryckman didn’t rule out a vote on a constitutional amendment later in the week. But he said his focus is on getting a school finance bill that responds to the current lawsuit over funding.

The Kansas Coalition for Fair Funding introduced the amendment last week. The organization was formed last month for the purpose of promoting the amendment. The coalition has the backing of the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Kansas Contractors Association, among others.

“Right now, more than half of every taxpayer dollar goes to K-12 schools and we believe strongly in maintaining that standard,” Michael White, director of the Kansas Contractors Association, said in a statement. “Education is — and should be — a top priority in the state budget. But, Kansans have other priorities too — like jobs, roads and the economy.”

The great challenge confronting Kansas is not excessive judicial power or runaway spending on schools, said Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, in a statement.

“The great challenge is that Kansas is falling behind other states and our own past commitment to education funding, at a time when there is mounting evidence that funding largely determines educational outcomes, and educational outcomes largely determine personal, local, state and national economic prosperity,” Tallman said.

If two-thirds of the House and Senate support the amendment, it would go to a statewide vote.

This story was originally published April 2, 2018 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Lawmakers reject $500 million increase for Kansas schools, but plan to try again."