Special legislative session a hopeful sign

Gov. Sam Brownback acted responsibly Tuesday in calling a special session of the Legislature to respond to the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling that equity must be restored to K-12 school funding by June 30. To the governor’s further credit, he said, “I will do everything I can to keep this session focused on education.”

That’s exactly where the attention needs to be to make sure that districts are funded on July 1 and the school year will open on time.

The governor and GOP legislative leaders continue to blame the justices for threatening to close schools in their May 27 order, which said a law passed in March to restore equity in the distribution of supplemental general state aid actually would create “intolerable, and simply unfair, wealth-based disparities among the districts.”

Some lawmakers still think it would be politically advantageous to call the court’s bluff and do nothing, calculating that voters would hold the court accountable by ousting four of the five justices up for retention on the November ballot. The Statehouse rhetoric has been nasty, with legislators likening the ruling to extortion and excrement.

But state leaders’ immediate duty is to the parents and students across Kansas who are understandably concerned about a possible school shutdown. Though lawmakers may end up reconsidering the state budget in light of May’s $75 million revenue shortfall, time and resources should not be wasted during a special session trying to curb the Supreme Court’s authority, ease impeachment of justices, or push through anti-public school reforms.

Nor should the Legislature try again to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to give Brownback the free rein he so covets to select “judges who will vote the way we want them to,” to use a phrase attributed to the governor by a former Senate Judiciary Committee chairman.

In his Tuesday statement, Brownback called it “distressing that the Kansas Supreme Court has put the schools and Legislature of Kansas in this position over less than 1 percent of school funding.” But neither should the Legislature and governor risk a court-ordered shutdown over less than 1 percent of school funding, or an extra $40 million. And is it so hard for legislators to accept that the court isn’t the enemy but the umpire?

Brownback’s decision to call a special session doesn’t guarantee a resolution by June 30, but it’s a hopeful sign that the executive and legislative branches are prepared to respond to the coequal judicial branch in good faith.

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 12:07 AM with the headline "Special legislative session a hopeful sign."