House Approves School Funding Plan

The Kansas House has approved a bill that would phase in a $280 million increase in the state’s spending on public schools over two years even though some members said the extra money isn’t enough to satisfy a court mandate.

The vote Thursday was 84-39. The bill goes next to the Senate.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in March that the state’s $4 billion a year in aid to its 286 school districts is inadequate. The court did not say exactly how much spending must increase when it set a June 30 deadline for lawmakers to pass a new school funding law.

Attorneys for the four school districts that sued the state consider the plan inadequate and Democrats predicted the court will reject it. Many Republicans disagreed.]