Lawmakers consider amending Kansas Constitution to prevent school closures

Lawmakers criticized the Kansas Supreme Court and each other Thursday as they considered changing the Kansas Constitution to prevent courts from closing schools in the future.

They face a June 30 deadline to fix inequities in school finance or risk the court blocking state education funding, triggering a shutdown of schools. A special session begins June 23.

Two proposed constitutional amendments wouldn’t have any impact on the Legislature’s current standoff with the court, but they could restrict what the court can do when it decides whether school funding is adequate in the near future. Either amendment would require approval by two-thirds of the Legislature and a majority of the state’s voters.

“I think there’s a good share of our caucus that wants to see that,” said Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita. Hawkins said he has not decided yet whether he’ll support an amendment.

Both versions of the amendment also would prevent the Legislature from closing schools in response to a court order.

The amendment would appear on the November ballot with an accompanying statement that says its purpose “is to limit the legal remedies available to both the courts of this state and the legislature by prohibiting the closure of schools as a legal remedy in cases where a law is held to be unconstitutional as a violation of article 6 of the constitution of the state of Kansas.”

The Senate and House Judiciary committees will decide Friday whether to act on the proposals.

David Dorsey, a representative for the Kansas Policy Institute, told lawmakers they should just remove the requirement for suitable education funding in the Kansas Constitution, which he said would put an end to decades of litigation over school finance.

Parents and school groups, on the other hand, spoke out against the amendments, which they say remove an important enforcement tool for the courts.

“In this country, we use court orders for many things,” said Brian Koon, the legislative liaison for Kansas Families for Education. “Sometimes court orders are used to compel deadbeat dads to pay the child support that is their duty to pay – even if they do not like the ruling, or do not wish to pay, or believe it is not the duty of a parent to pay.”

The comment drew a pointed response from Rep. Blake Carpenter, R-Derby, who asked, “Are you referring to the Legislature being a bunch of deadbeat dads?”

Koon said it was a comparison. Carpenter then said the amendment would leave the issue up to the “will of the people.”

‘Everybody is weary’

Several lawmakers vented their frustration at the litigation. The current case stems from 2010, but it comes after a series of cases that date back to when the state amended its constitution in 1966 to enact the suitability requirement.

“What amount of money is it going to take to achieve that perfect world?” Sen. Julia Lynn, R-Olathe, asked. “Let’s say we solve the problem and find the money. … Where do we go from there? What do we do 10 years, 15 years, 50 years down the road? … Everybody is weary of this.”

Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, fired back.

“Is that number static? Are you saying that I’ve got to pick a number today and have it for the rest of time or are you recognizing that that’s a fluid number based on the dynamic society we live in?” he asked. “… I’m curious what student are we going to limit. Whose child are we going to say, well, you know, we ran out of money yesterday, your child we can’t provide services in the classroom?”

The Wichita school district opposes the proposed constitutional amendment. But Diane Gjerstad, the lobbyist for the district, found the meeting productive despite its contentious tone.

“It is always productive. The Legislature has to get together. They have to talk about these things. They have to have conversations. They have to go through the grief phases,” she said. “Anger.”

Rep. Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe, the House budget chairman, met with Wichita Superintendent John Allison on Thursday to discuss possible funding plans. The district would not go into detail about the meeting.

‘Get it solved’

Wichita stands to gain nearly $10 million if lawmakers restore the state’s old equalization formula, an option identified by the court as a safe harbor and supported by Gov. Sam Brownback.

That would put $38 million more into education statewide. More than 140 other districts would also see increases, but nearly 100 districts would see cuts in overall funding because they receive more under the block grant system that the court ruled unconstitutional.

The superintendents of five Johnson County school districts held a news conference Thursday calling for the Legislature to pass a funding bill that pays for both equalization and a provision to not cut funding for any school district. That would increase the total cost of the legislation to about $50 million.

“What’s another $11 (million) or $12 million out of a $4 billion state budget? … It’s a short-term fix,” Shawnee Mission Superintendent Jim Hinson said. “Get it solved.”

Several Republican leaders, including Ryckman, however, have said it’s possible to address the ruling without adding new money.

Mike O’Neal, a former House speaker and president of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, told lawmakers that they have multiple options that do not involve new money.

“When you go to the refrigerator to pour two glasses of milk for your kids and they’re not exactly right, your first impulse isn’t to go back into the refrigerator,” O’Neal said. “It’s to take one glass and pour it into the other glass until they’re equal. And nobody complains about that.”

Contributing: Scott Canon of the Kansas City Star

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Lawmakers consider amending Kansas Constitution to prevent school closures."