Arpke: School Funding Talks To Begin

A key Kansas senator says legislators are going back and looking at all recommendations for education funding in order to comply with a court mandate to boost school aid.

Sen. Tom Arpke says the Senate Ways and Means Committee anticipated reopening discussions of the public school budget on Thursday.

Arpke and two senators met briefly Monday to enable that debate through a minor addition to a budget report.

The House Appropriations Committee planned a briefing Tuesday from Attorney General Derek Schmidt on the Kansas Supreme Court’s recent ruling in a lawsuit filed by parents and school districts.

The court said past cuts in aid to poor school districts created unconstitutional gaps in funding between them and wealthier districts. It ordered lawmakers to fix the problem by July 1.