A Kansas House committee roundly rejected a bill last week responding to a state Supreme Court ruling on school funding. But the panel isn't giving up. As KPR's Stephen Koranda reports, they'll be back at work on the topic this week.
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The committee is trying to respond to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that says there are unconstitutional funding disparities between school districts. The original plan would have added funding and moved money between districts, but Republicans on the panel didn’t like it. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Republican Ron Ryckman, says they’ll be running through additional proposals this week.
“We’ll continue to hear testimony and gather ideas. If good ideas come up, we will get the committee’s opinion on it and see if we can work it through the process,” says Ryckman.
Supreme Court justices said if there isn’t a solution in place by this summer they could close Kansas schools.
This is the final week before lawmakers take their month-long spring break. They’ll return for the tail end of the session in late April.