Legislators are getting a lesson in the Kansas school finance formula as they open two days of hearings reviewing how public education is funded.

The meetings Wednesday and Thursday by a special education committee started with a primer on how the state’s formula distributes more than $3 billion in state aid to 286 school districts. Discussions later in the day will look at student achievement.

The committee is led by Republican Kasha Kelley, chairwoman of the House Education Committee, and Republican Sen. Steve Abrams, a former State Board of Education member.

Legislators will revisit school funding in 2014 after the Kansas Supreme Court issues its decision in an appeal of a lower court’s ruling ordering the state to increase spending. The justices heard the arguments in October.