Kansas again faces threat of public schools remaining closed

Kansas again faces a threat that its public schools won’t open for the next school year.

The threat arises because of a ruling from the state Supreme Court on education funding changes made by the Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year.

The court on Friday rejected some of the changes. They revised parts of the state’s school finance system but didn’t change the overall aid for most of its 286 local districts.

The court said the remaining flaws make the system unfair to poor districts, violating the state constitution.

Four school districts sued the state over education funding in 2010. That’s prompted a series of court rulings.

One in February from the Supreme Court directed legislators to make the funding system fairer for poor districts. Legislators enacted their changes in March.